LONDON: The UK government on Friday put Pakistan on the “red list” of countries effective April 9, a decision it said was based on advice from public health experts as well as scientific data.
The move has thwarted travel plans of British Pakistanis hoping to spend Ramazan and Eid with their families (considering the cost of a 10-day quarantine on their return to the UK), though speculation about travel restrictions started early in March when reported cases in the capital and Punjab saw a significant increase.
Effective Friday next week, passengers from Pakistan will be denied entry to the UK unless they are British or Irish nationals or have residency rights. The cost for one adult in a government-approved hotel room for 10 days is £1,750, which does not include the mandatory £210 each passenger has to pay for testing in this period. A negative PCR test in this time does not shorten the duration of the quarantine.
The decision came as Pakistan’s National Command and Control Centre (NCOC) for Covid-19 reported 5,234 new cases in the last 24 hours, with 83 deaths. The positivity ratio in 26 cities has crossed 8 per cent.
British High Commissioner Christian Turner in a video message said: “I know how unwelcome this news will be for all of you and for so many of the British Pakistani community that is the bedrock of our strong relationship.”
Sources told Dawn one of the reasons behind Pakistan’s inclusion on the “red list” is that a significant percentage of those arriving from Pakistan tested positive on day two and day eight of their arrival in the UK.
Current affairs digest.
As the UK prepares a phased-lifting of the national lockdown from April 12 in light of lower daily cases, the potential spread of Covid-19 in the Pakistani British community in the UK was a factor in the decision to restrict travel.
A spokesman for the UK’s transport department that reviews this list said: “The decision to add and remove countries from the red list is made by ministers informed by the latest scientific data and public health advice from a range of world-leading experts.”
“The risk assessments cover a range of factors for each country including assessment of surveillance/sequencing capability, available surveillance/genome sequencing data, evidence of in-country community transmission of Covid-19 variants, and travel connectivity with the UK.”
Pakistan requires a ‘sandwich test’ for passengers arriving from the UK, which means they need to show a negative Covid-19 PCR test within 72 hours of departure and also test on arrival at the airport.
In early March, a series of tweets from the British Pakistan Foundation quoting BHC sources suggested that “there is a potential risk” of it being placed on the quarantine list. “At present, Pakistan accounts for about 10% of all passengers coming into the UK with an alarmingly high number testing positive for coronavirus on arrival,” the Foundation said.