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3 out of 8 former red list have FCDO warning
The FCDO advisories due to Covid for the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh all remain in place as of lunchtime today.
After the announcement removing 8 countries from the red list, the FCDO lifted its advice against all but essential travel on Covid grounds to only five of the eight – Turkey, Kenya, Egypt, Bangladesh, and Oman.
The removal of the FCDO’s Covid-specific travel advisories means that most travel insurance companies would not cover you.
A warning discourages the majority of people from travelling as most travel insurance won’t cover you, but you can get cover through a specialist provider such as battleface*. They also offer Covid-19 cover for medical expenses cover for travellers up to a maximum age of 59. Note they do not offer the same Covid cover in terms of cancellation etc as some other policies, so make sure you check what you are getting. You can find more information and check prices here.
*battleface is provided by Tangiers Insurance Services Limited, a UK insurance intermediary authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, Tangiers Underwriting Services SRL, a Belgian mandated underwriter registered with the Authority of Financial Markets and Services and battleface Insurance Services LLC, a US licensed insurance producer. The details provided on this webpage are for information only. Always read the description of cover contained within your policy to ensure it is suitable for your needs.
Shapps briefs parliament on travel
Yesterday Grant Shapps briefed parliament after the announcements on Friday changing the rules for travel. He indicated that he hoped there would be less changes in future, particularly last minute changes from green to red. Though I seem to remember them saying that before…
He said “I hope we move away from a world in which instant changes are required. I cannot absolutely guarantee that, but I think we can see by the direction of movement that things are coming on to a more sustainable footing.”
He was questioned about when the requirement to do a day 2 PCR test would no longer be valid. He indicated that the Department of Health and Social Care (DoH) would set out more details on testing requirements, but he was sure they had half-term in mind when looking at the timelines.
The next formal review of the travel restrictions will be early in the new year.
Visitors from outside the UK
Shapps also revealed entry rules for fully vaccinated travellers from Canada and Japan would also be eased from the same date. That along with the others announced recently “will bring the number of countries and territories in scope to 50,” he said.
From 4am Monday 4 October, if you have been fully vaccinated for at least 14 days:
- under an approved vaccination program in the UK, Europe, US or UK vaccine programme overseas
- with a full course of the Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna or Janssen vaccines from a relevant public health body in Australia, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, Dominica, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea or Taiwan – mixing between two-dose vaccines (Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna) in this list is also recognised.
- under a formally approved COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial in the US, Canada and Australia and have a proof of participation (digital or paper-based) from a public health body
There was also good news for those visiting from the UAE.
“I can tell the House that we are in the final stages of doing this with our friends in the United Arab Emirates.”
Transit rules
He has confirmed the new transit rules which make far more sense. “This change will ensure that passengers who remain in airports and in railway stations will only be required to follow the measures associated with their country of departure rather than any countries they have transited through as part of their journey.”
6 comments
The advice is not conflicting. The FCDO advice relates to whether British citizens are advised to travel to a country.
The Department for Transport rules are about what happens to any arrivals entering the U.K. from that country.
It’s two different things.
The way that I view it is that most people would assume that taking a country of the red list means that it is safe to travel to. After all the government days that you should not travel to a red list country. But then the FCDO is saying it’s not safe to travel to some amber countries. While most TLFL readers are regular travellers who understand the difference between the traffic light system and FCDO advice, much of the travelling public do not. I’m sure that a lot of people will end up booking trips only to find that it’s against FCDO advice afterwards.
Isn’t that just a Darwin-type thing, though? Before the pandemic, responsible travellers always checked the FCDO advice, particularly to see whether they would need (other) jabs, visas, bodyguards or the like.
Covid just put another layer on top that, in some ways, simplified things by putting a overriding Covid Traffic Light Trump card in place.
I’m confused about the post regarding travel insurance to countries where the FCDO advise is all but essential travel. Only yesterday I spoke with my bank, we’ll actually it’s the insurance company they use, and was advised that although the country I’m planning to visit is currently on the U.K. red list, as the FCDO advice is “all but essential travel” and not “against all travel” I will be covered.
That’s definitely an exception rather than the rule. Most travel insurance companies will not cover FCDO advise against all but essential travel. You got lucky.
Is anyone really surprised by the contradictory information from the government. The only thing they do with any consistency is create chaos.
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