As the UK is now easing its lockdown restrictions, travel has now been included in this area. 

As of May the 7th, the UK has now issued its green, amber, and red list countries. Travel to the green list countries is permitted from the 17th of May at 4:00 am.

The UK’s green list countries include;

Australia, Brunei, Falkland Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Iceland, Isreal and Jerusalem, New Zealand, Portugal (including the Azores and Madeira), Singapore, Georgia and Sandwich Islands, and St Helena

Despite Africa having some of the lowest COVID-related cases and deaths in the world. All of the African countries have been put on the UK’s Amber and Red travel list.

African countries on the amber list include; 

• Algeria
• Benin  
• Burkina Faso
• Cameroon
• The central African Republic        
• Chad   
• Comoros        
• Congo (Republic of,)
• Côte d’Ivoire  
• Djibouti             
• Egypt  
• Equatorial Guinea      
• Eritrea
• Gabon
• The Gambia 
• Ghana
• Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Liberia
• Libya   
• Madagascar 
• Mali    
• Mauritania     
• Mauritius      
• Mayotte       
• Morocco        
• Niger  
• Nigeria
• Sao Tome and Principe          
• Senegal          
• Sierra Leone   
• South Sudan   
• Sudan 
• Togo   
• Tunisia
• Uganda           

What does this mean?

Travellers returning from a country on the green list will not need to quarantine, and will only be required to take one post-arrival test.

However, entry to countries like Australia, New Zealand and Singapore is still severely restricted.

Countries on the Amber list have been deemed by Transport secretary Grant Shapps as “places you should not be travelling to right now”.

Those who go against that guidance must take two post-arrival tests.They are also required to self-isolate at home for 10 days, although they can reduce that time if they take an additional negative test on day five.

The UK government advises against all travel to red list countries or territories for leisure purposes.  Those returning from a red list country must stay in a quarantined hotel for 11 nights at a cost of £1,750.

Below is an outline to help understand the different listed countries.

The travel industry has expressed disappointment that so few countries are on the UK government’s green list for travel, describing the announcement as “overly cautious”. As seen with the green list containing no African countries, the future of travel in Africa is uncertain and disappointing for fellow African wander lusters. 

This information is always changing so do go to the government webpage for more updated information.

Sources

Gov

BBC

Sky news