29/11/2021
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a news conference on Nov. 27 in London about the new omicron coronavirus variant. (Pool/Reuters)
The prime minister said the new rules, which will be reviewed in three weeks, will help to “buy time” for scientists to better understand the variant.
The U.K. also added four new African countries to its travel “red list” on Saturday, meaning that travel from a total of 10 African countries is now restricted: Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Travelers from those countries will be denied entry into the U.K. unless they are British or Irish citizens or residents, in which case they will have to quarantine at a government-approved hotel for 10 days.
Downing Street’s announcement Saturday, however, was short on details and left many people shortly traveling to the U.K. unclear about the new rules.
British media reported Sunday that the new PCR requirement would go into effect at 4 a.m. Tuesday and that the test had to be taken within two days of arrival.
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But it was clear that Johnson was placing faith in the current vaccination program as he urged a faster rollout of booster shots. “We don’t yet, exactly, know how effective our vaccines will be against omicron, but we have good reasons for believing they will provide at least some measure of protection,” he said.
He was asked at the news conference whether Britons should consider rearranging their plans for Christmas.
Johnson said he was “confident” that Christmas would be “considerably better than last Christmas.” Given the severe restrictions on many Britons during Christmas last year, that’s not a particularly high bar
