Colombia, Venezuela, Five Others Removed From U. K Red List Ahead Of COP26 Climate Summit

By Izuchukwu Okosi

The U.K. on Thursday removed all seven remaining countries from its Covid-19 red list and as a result has ended a mandatory hotel quarantine requirement for any arriving travellers from other countries.

The latest development comes just days before the COP26 climate summit begins in Glasgow, Scotland, which will see delegates from across the world converge for deliberations.

According to Secretary Grant Shapps via Twitter, highest-risk category will remain in place to protect public health, and U.K. officials are prepared to add countries back if necessary.

The seven countries — Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Haiti, Panama, Ecuador and Peru, will be removed on November 1, Shapps revealed.

The move puts an effective end to hotel quarantine measures set in place in February 2021 as the U.K. hit hard by the Coronavirus sought to slow the import of new variants after an outbreak last winter.

Earlier in October, the U.K. removed a total of 47 countries and territories from the red list. It also simplified its border-rule system by eliminating the middle or amber tier of its so-called traffic light system.

Izuchukwu Okosi

Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc. In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio. He worked there for 13 years until October 2017. Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch. He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations. Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ). He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line. Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.