UK places India in travel 'Red List' amid reports of 103 mutant Coronavirus cases

On a day when Boris Johnson cancelled his planned visit, Britain has also added India to its COVID-19 travel 'red list' in view of the sharp surge in Coronavirus cases across the country. By adding India to the 'red list' on Monday, the United Kingdom has effectively banned all travel from the country and mandated a 10-day institutional quarantine compulsory for all home residents arriving back into the country. The move comes after the United Kingdom reported 103 cases of the Indian COVID-19 variant. 

Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed the move in the House of Commons as he revealed that 103 cases of the so-called Indian variant had been identified in the UK, of which the 'vast majority have links to international travel.

'The British Health Secretary added that samples of the variant have been analysed to check if the new variant has any "concerning characteristics", such as greater transmissibility or resistance to treatments and vaccines.

Pertinently, UK was one of the first few countries to have reported a mutated version of the virus, following which India had placed restrictions on travellers arriving from the European country. 

"After studying the data, and on a precautionary basis, we've made the difficult but vital decision to add India to the red list. This means anyone who is not a UK or Irish citizen... cannot enter the UK if they have been in India in the previous 10 days," Hancock told British MPs. 

Boris Johnson calls off India trip 

The UK PM Boris Johnson’s trip to India next week has been cancelled, Downing Street confirmed on April 19. In a joint statement, the British and the Indian government said that due to the current coronavirus situation, the UK PM will not be able to travel to India. However, the statement also added that PM Narendra Modi and Johnson will speak later this month to agree and launch their ambitious plans for the future partnership between the two countries. 

“Instead, Prime Ministers Modi and Johnson will speak later this month to agree and launch their ambitious plans for the future partnership between the UK and India. They will remain in regular contact beyond this, and look forward to meeting in person later this year,” the joint statement read. 

Meanwhile, for the fifth day straight, India breached the 2 lakh mark with a record single-day rise of 2,73,810 fresh COVID-19 cases. Maharashtra, Delhi and Karnataka emerged as the major contributors of fresh cases, with 68,631, 25, 462 and 19,067 fresh cases respectively. With this, the cumulative count in the country has mounted to 1,50,61,919. The death toll has reached 1.78 lakh, with 1,619  deaths in the last 24 hours.