Welsh Government removes 11 countries from red list but advise against international travel

The Welsh Government has announced it will remove 11 countries currently on its red travel list. 

In line with the UK Government’s decision to do the same, the Welsh Government agreed to remove all the countries currently on the list.

Eleven African countries were added to the list following the emergence of the omicron variant, and in a bid to contain its spread. 

However, with the variant now well-established in the UK, they will all be removed from 4am on Wednesday, December 15.

In a statement, Wales’ health minister Eluned Morgan said: “It will be important to maintain the option of placing a country on the red list for international travel in the future and that these changes can be introduced quickly as a means of preventing new cases of coronavirus being imported into the UK when new variants of concern emerge.

“We also need to retain the ability to quickly introduce contingency measures, such as managed quarantine hotels, in the event new variants of concern are identified.

“It remains vitally important we continue to retain measures to prevent the importation of new coronavirus infections, such as pre-departure testing, which is essential to help prevent the spread of infection associated with travel.

“Day 2 testing acts as something of a surveillance system for international travel – if we had retained the requirement for a day 2 PCR test, we may have been alerted to the presence and introduction of omicron as a result of international travel earlier.” 

Ms Morgan also advised people against non-essential international travel.

She continued: “Due to the ongoing risks of coronavirus, including the recent and rapid emergence of the omicron variant, we continue to advise against all but essential international travel at this time.

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