Kenya, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines have been added to England’s “red list” – meaning 11 nights of mandatory hotel quarantine for anyone arriving after 4am on Friday 9 April.
The government said the four countries had been added “to protect the country against new variants of coronavirus (Covid-19), at a critical time for the vaccine programme”.
A statement said: “With over 30 million vaccinations delivered in the UK so far, the additional restrictions will help to reduce the risk of new variants – such as those first identified in South Africa (SA) and Brazil – entering England.
“So far, surveillance has found that few cases of the SA variant have been identified as being imported from Europe, with most…