The conditions of entry into England will be relaxed from October 4, announced the Minister of Transport on Friday. Vaccinated travellers will no longer need to be tested before leaving a country not on the red list to enter England. Local governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have generally followed the same rules.
Under the new system, from October 4 there will be no amber list in England, with a red list of countries requiring hotel quarantine on return, and the rest considered open.
Eight countries will be removed from the red list from September 22. They are: Turkey, the Maldives, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Oman, Bangladesh and Kenya.
Nilen Vencadasmy, chairman of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, said to Travelweekly : “We are looking forward to welcoming travellers from around the world back to Mauritius to enjoy everything our beautiful island has to offer.
“The safety of Mauritians and visitors has been our number one priority throughout the pandemic, and the success of our response is the result of a collective effort by the government of Mauritius and residents of the island.”
Mauritius is due to open up to international visitors from October 1, with testing requirements in place.
The British government announced a relaxation of the conditions of entry into England for travellers vaccinated against Covid-19. This decision was long awaited by the tourism and transport sector, which has been hit hard by the pandemic.
Then, at the end of October, the PCR test required on the second day after arrival on English soil will be replaced by a “less expensive” antigen test, he said.
Travelers who test positive will be required to isolate themselves and then perform a confirmatory PCR test, at no additional cost, which will be analyzed to identify new variants.: “These changes should be the catalyst for other red-listed countries in Africa to make the transition soon and we will not give up lobbying on their behalf” said the British.
He added: “How has the UK managed to fall so far behind the EU in opening up, when our vaccine programme was the envy of the EU just a few months ago?
“Where is the vaccine dividend? Where is the Brexit dividend? I can’t begin to express my disgust at the treatment of Latin American countries.”
