Maldives among 8 countries removed from UK Red List

The government of UK has announced that Maldives and 7 other counties has been removed from the Travel Red list. 

According to Grant Shapps, the Secretary of State for Transport in UK, effective September 22, Maldives, alongside eight countries (Bangladesh, Egypt, Kenya, Oman, Pakistan, Srilanka and Turkey) removed from their Travel Red List. 

Caron Rohsler, the British High Commissioner to Maldives stated that this was the result of great effort from the Maldivian government and everyone involved, adding that this is a first step in opening up travel between the two countries, safely. As Maldives is no longer on the red list travellers from the country will not be required to undergo a quarantine period of 10 days upon arrival. 

Maldives’ High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Dr. Farahanaz Faizal expressed gratitude to all those who raised its case on behalf of the Maldives. She had been repeatedly raising concerns over the UK government’s decision to leave Maldives on the red list, despite low case numbers and high vaccination rates.

She noted that the country has just begun regular Genome sequencing as well and questioned whether it came too late for the recent review. Health Protection Agency (HPA) had previously revealed that the reason Maldives is on UK’s red list is because the country had not completed the Genomic Sequencing test required to move up the list.