Omicron variant: UK removes South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe etc. from the travel red list!

According to the Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, the Government of the United Kingdom is set to remove all eleven countries from the travel red list as of 15 December 2021 at 04:00. The list, which was reintroduced in late November 2021 as a precaution after the emergence of the Omicron variant, currently includes South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Eswatini, Lesotho, Angola as well as Nigeria. The UK Government has announced that because the spread of Omicron has been so wide, there is no need for any countries to be included on the red list at the moment.

??TRAVEL UPDATE

From 4am on Weds 15 Dec, ALL 11 countries will be removed from England's travel red ?? list #Internationaltravel (1/3)

— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) December 14, 2021

New Covid-19 variant: South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini added to Israel's travel red list! [update]

update (26 November 2021): Israel adds all African nations, except those in North Africa, to its "red list" of high-risk countries due to the new coronavirus variant.

The Government of Israel announced on 25 November 2021 that South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini have been added to the country's "red", or highest-risk, travel list. This is due to the detection of a new Covid-19 variant, B.1.1.529, in South Africa, which has a "very unusual constellation" of mutations. Israelis are banned from travelling to countries on the "red" list, unless they receive special permission from Israel's health ministry. Israelis returning home from those countries are required to spend between 7-14 days in a quarantine hotel after arrival. Anyone coming from any of these "red", or highest-risk, countries and is not an Israeli citizen or resident is barred from entering into Israel. We'll keep you posted!

New Covid-19 variant: South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia back on UK’s travel red list! [update]

update (29 November 2021): Angola, Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia have also been added to UK’s travel red list.
The UK High Commission has confirmed that British Airways will resume direct flights to South Africa from 30 November 2021, with the first flight to London on 01 December 2021. Virgin Airlines will also continue flying three times a week between London and Johannesburg.

Following the detection of a new Covid-19 variant, B.1.1.529, in South Africa, South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia will be added to the UK’s travel red list. This becomes effective from midday today (26 November 2021). Direct flights from these six countries will be banned from midday Friday (26 November 2021) until hotel quarantine is up and running from 04:00 on 28 November 2021. Passengers arriving from 04:00 on 28 November 2021 in the UK will be required to book and pay for a government-approved hotel quarantine facility for 10 days. UK and Irish residents arriving from these six countries between midday Friday (26 November 2021) and 04:00 on 28 November 2021, and who have been in these countries within the last 10 days, must quarantine at home for 10 days and take PCR tests on Day 2 and Day 8, even if they already have a lateral flow test booking. From midday on Friday (26 November 2021), non-UK and Irish residents who have been in South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia in the previous 10 days will be refused entry into the UK. This does not apply to those who have stayed airside and only transited through any of these countries while changing flights. We'll keep you posted!

Covid-19: The UK removes 14 countries in Southern & East Africa from the Covid-19 travel "red list"!

The Government of the United Kingdom (UK) has announced that the Covid-19 travel "red list" will reduce to 7 countries (Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Peru and Venezuela) and proof of vaccination will be recognised from 37 new countries and territories (including three countries from Southern and East Africa) from 11 October 2021.
The following countries in Southern and East Africa will be removed from the list from 04:00 on 11 October 2021:

• Angola
• Botswana
• DR Congo
• Eswatini
• Lesotho
• Malawi
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Rwanda
• South Africa
• Tanzania
• Uganda
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

Eligible fully vaccinated passengers and eligible under 18s returning from countries and territories not on the red list, can do so with just a day 2 test. eOther passengers who are not fully vaccinated with an authorised vaccine returning from a non-red destination must still take a pre-departure test, a day 2 and day 8 test and complete 10 days self-isolation (with the option of Test to Release on day 5).

The Government of the United Kingdom (UK) also announced, from 04:00 on 11 October 2021, eligible travellers vaccinated in over 37 new countries and territories will also be treated the same as returning fully vaccinated UK residents, so long as they have not visited a red list country or territory in the 10 days before arriving in England. The following countries in Southern and East Africa are among these countries:

• Kenya
• Namibia
• South Africa

Passengers who are not an eligible traveller with an authorised vaccine arriving from a rest of world destination must still take a pre-departure test, a day 2 and day 8 test and complete 10 days self-isolation (with the option of Test to Release on day 5).

Africa: The population of the African Black Rhino in Africa is slowly increasing!

According to the latest update of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species™, the population of the African Black Rhino in Africa is slowly increasing. The species remains critically endangered, but continuing law enforcement efforts and successful population management measures, including moving selected rhinos from established populations to new locations to keep populations productive and increase the species' range, counter the persistent threat of poaching. The African Black Rhino population across Africa has grown at a modest annual rate of 2.5% from an estimated 4,845 to 5,630 animals in the wild between 2012 and 2018. According to population models, a further slow increase over the next five years is most likely to be expected.

Africa's other rhino species, the more numerous White Rhino continues to be categorised as near threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. The White Rhino is more vulnerable to poaching as it has larger horns, and favours more open habitats so is easier to find than the African Black Rhino. Accoring to the IUCN, numbers of the Southern White Rhino subspecies declined by 15% between 2012 and 2017 from an estimated 21,300 to 18,000 animals, which largely cancelled out most of the growth in White Rhino numbers from 2007 to 2012. This recent decline was largely due to the high levels of poaching in South Africa's Kruger National Park, home to the world's largest White Rhino population. The other White Rhino subspecies, the Northern White Rhino, remains critically endangered (possibly extinct in the wild). [via iucn.org]