The United Kingdom on Thursday announced the removal of the last seven countries from its travel ban red list. With this development, Britain is allowing all vaccinated travellers to travel to the country without the need to undergo quarantine in government-approved facilities upon arrival.

The seven countries include Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. The new decision will be effective from 4am (0400GMT) on November 1 (Monday). As per the updated protocols, travellers fully-vaccinated against COVID-19 will no longer be required to stay in a quarantine hotel for 11 nights at a cost of over 2,000 pounds ($3,000).

Speaking about the development, British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps stated that the government will continue to keep a red category “as a precautionary measure” in case of need later.

He added that the British government is working on recognising vaccine given in more than 30 additional countries, including Peru and Uganda, with the aim of enhancing travel between these countries. It will step up the number of approved COVID-19 vaccines in the UK to more than 135.

At a time when the United Kingdom was experiencing surge in COVID-19 cases, it had put dozens of countries on its red list while other nations with medium risk were placed in amber list as well as green list for low-risk nations.

On October 4, Britain decided to scrap the amber and green categories, following which the government removed a significant number of countries from its red list.

Karen Dee, chief executive of the Airport Operators Association, welcomed the latest decision as a significant step towards normalizing international travel.

While the UK government takes decisions related to the health policy for England, Scotland and Wales have expressed their willingness to following Britain's policies for post-pandemic travel.