Uganda removed from UK red list

The United Kingdom has announced that Uganda alongside other 46 countries will be removed from its red list of countries effective Monday, October 11, at 4am.

The development means that passengers returning to England from Uganda and other 46 destinations will no longer be required to enter a 10-day hotel quarantine as it has been the case.

In a statement released on Thursday, the UK government noted that eligible fully vaccinated passengers and eligible under 18s returning from countries and territories not on the red list, shall only have to do so with just a day 2 test.

On the other hand, passengers who are not fully vaccinated with an authorised vaccine returning from the 47 countries still have to take a pre-departure test, a day 2 and day 8 test and complete 10 days self-isolation (with the option of Test to Release on day 5).

Following the development, the UK Embassy in Uganda hailed the move and said it’s working in hand with the Uganda government to ensure Ugandans get vaccination certificates for vaccines recognised by UK.

“Great news is that Uganda is no longer on the red list for travel to the UK. We are working closely with the Ministry of Health on the next step to get Ugandan vaccination certificates, for vaccines recognised by the UK, accepted for travel.” the embassy said.

The European nation has also warned that data for all countries and territories will be kept under review and that the government will not hesitate to take action where a country’s epidemiological picture changes.

It should be remembered that in June, Uganda was placed on the UK government’s red list, following a surge in Covid-19 cases as the country grappled with a devastating second wave of the pandemic.

Travelers from Uganda had since been refused entry to the UK save for the British or Irish nationals or a third country nationals with residence rights in the UK.

However, Covid-19 positive cases have since dropped with the test positivity rate now standing at 1.8% as at October 5. The drop in cases has since prompted many countries to lift travel restrictions on Uganda with the latest being UK.

Data from the Ministry of Health shows the country has so far administered 2, 206, 221 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines as the country moves to vaccinate around 22 million Ugandans by December, before the country can be fully reopened.