No plans to put all of Europe on the red list, health secretary says

The ‘red list’ of 35 countries includes the UAE, South Africa and most of South America

No plans to put Ibiza on the red list (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

There are no plans to put all of Europe on the “red list”, the health secretary has said.

Matt Hancock confirmed that despite a third wave of coronavirus infections in popular holiday destinations such as France and Italy, travel wouldn’t be banned to the continent.

Yesterday, health minister Lord Bethell suggested that the UK could put all of Europe on the “red list” of 35 high-risk countries, which currently includes the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and most of South America.

No countries in Europe are currently on the “red list” after Portugal was removed.

There have been concerns that France could be the next country to be added, as the country goes back into a strict four-week lockdown following a surge in infections.

Travel from a “red list” country triggers hotel quarantine at a cost of £1,750 per person.

Read more:

• How the ‘traffic light travel’ system could work 
• Summer holidays would bring ‘real risk’ of Covid variants, says scientist 
• Ministers’ holiday warnings ‘completely irresponsible’, says travel boss 
• When can we travel again? Key lockdown easing dates

In response to the idea that the whole of Europe could be annexed to the red list, Mr Hancock told LBC this morning : “We don’t have any plans to do that.

“We do have this red list and the amber list, and at the moment that is working well, so we don’t have plans to do that.”

Ministers and epidemiologists are increasingly warning against booking trips – while the travel industry insists that people should be allowed to visit low-risk locations.

A solution could be to refine the “traffic light” system to indicate relative risk and the extent of travel restrictions.

In practice, Ireland is the only country in the “green” category – with no restrictions on arrivals to the UK from the republic. At the other extreme is the “red” group, which is the government’s gradually mutating list of countries from which “variants of concern” are feared.

The rest of the world, in theory, fits into the “amber” category. Portugal and Mauritius were most recently removed from the “red” category.

Travel both domestically and internationally is currently banned. The Global Travel Taskforce is due to report on 12 April as to whether summer holidays might be possible.