Britain adds Nigeria to red list as Omicron cases rise

Nigeria will be added to Britain’s travel “red list” at 0400 GMT on Monday, health minister Savid Javid said on Saturday.

All travellers from Nigeria to Britain will also have to quarantine on arrival in hotels as cases of Omicron spiked to 160.

The new restrictions were put in place to slow down the spread of Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Britain.

“We’ve kept the data under review over the last week or so since we learned about Omicron, and we’re seeing increasing number of cases linked to travel,” Javid said in a broadcast.

“We’ve always said we will act swiftly if we need to, if the changing data requires that, and that’s why we decided to bring in this change on pre-departure tests.”

All inbound travellers to Britain are also required to take pre-departure COVID-19 tests. The test is expected to be done maximum of 48 hours before departure.

The World Health Organisation described Omicron as a variant of concern.

Canada and Indonesia had earlier announced similar restrictions on travellers from Nigeria and some Southern Africa countries.

Javid said that the number of cases of Omicron in Britain had risen to around 160, and that Nigeria was second only to South Africa in terms of Omicron cases linked to travel.