How does the government decide which countries are on the Red, Orange and Green lists that determine which countries the British should and should not visit – or rather what type of quarantine they must undergo upon their return?
The question is not just academic, given the controversy over Britain’s April 2 decision to put Pakistan and Bangladesh on its “red list” (which requires travelers to these countries to quarantine themselves in a government-approved hotel and prohibit those without citizenship or residency), but to delay India’s inclusion on that list for another two and a half weeks.
This decision is important because during this period thousands of travelers from India arrived in the UK – including a particular rush in the three and a half days between the announcement of the decision to put India on the red list and it is implemented.
Many of these travelers, as we now know, did not only suffer from COVID-19[female[feminine but from variant B.1.617.2 (Indian) which is considered to be more transmissible than the variants currently in the UK.
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It is now known that there are several cases of this variant in various places across the country.
Having become the dominant strain in Bolton, Blackburn along with Darwen and its environs, more recent data suggests it appears to have spread elsewhere, with significant proportions detected in Bedford.
The chief medical officer believes the variant will soon become the dominant variant in the country.
It goes too far to say that this would never have happened if India had not been added to the Red List earlier; it is very likely that this variant would eventually have spread to the United Kingdom.
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However, there is no doubt that his arrival could have been …
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Source: news.sky.com
This notice was published: 2021-05-17 17:36:00
