THE UK government has placed India on its travel red list after 103 cases of a new variant of Covid-19 were detected at British borders.

Health secretary Matt Hancock told Parliament today (Monday, April 19) that anyone returning to the UK who has been to India in the previous 10 days must go through mandatory 10-day quarantine at a government-approved hotel if they arrive on these shores from 4am on Friday.

Non UK or Irish residents will not be allowed in until 10 days after visiting India.

“India is a country I know well and love,” said Mr Hancock.

“Between our two countries we have ties of friendship and family. I understand the impact of this decision but I hope the house will concur that we must act.”

“We’ve recently seen a new variant first identified in India. We’ve now detected 103 cases of this variant, of which again the vast majority have links to international travel and have been picked up by our testing at the border.

“After studying the data, and on a precautionary basis, we’ve made the difficult but vital decision to add India to the red list.”

Will it escape the vaccines? 

Mr Hancock confirmed he could not give any assurances that the current vaccines the UK has against Covid-19 will be as effective against the new variant of the virus.

Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) said: “A new double mutation variant is reportedly more potent and dozens of cases have been detected here in the UK too.

“So can (Mr Hancock) clarify in order to assuage community concerns that our vaccines are effective against this new variant?”

Mr Hancock responded: “We simply don’t know that. We’re acting on a precautionary basis because we do not have… I can’t give him that assurance.

“And of course we’re looking into that question as fast as possible but that is the core of my concern about the variant first found in India, is that the vaccines may be less effective in terms of transmission and, or in terms of reducing hospitalisation and death.

“It is the same concern that we have with the variant first found in South Africa and is the core reason why we took the decision today.”

Why was this not done sooner? 

Labour’s Yvette Cooper, chairwoman of the Home Affairs Committee, questioned why India was not put on the red list sooner before adding: “Hong Kong this week have identified 47 Covid cases just on a single Delhi flight and we have still 16 more direct flights, many more indirect flights from India to here before Friday alone.”

Health Secretary Matt Hancock, replying in the Commons, said decisions on each country were “kept under constant review”.

What testing measures will be put in to deal with the new variant? 

There will also be surge testing to deal with the new variant.

Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth said: “As of today, UK COG (Covid Genomics UK) reports 135 cases of B1617 in the UK, 115 in the last 28 days – the fastest growing variant in the UK in the last three weeks.”

Mr Ashworth said his party “welcome” the move to place India on the red list, adding: “But we also now have cases in the community not linked to international travel.

“Now I understand that (Mr Hancock) is carrying out analysis of those samples. But surely we now need to start surge testing and designate the B1617 as a variant of concern.”

Discussing India being added to the red list, Mr Hancock said: “This isn’t a decision which we take lightly.

“(Mr Ashworth) is right to ask about surge testing to make sure that we limit the spread as much as is possible of the variant first found in India – and we will be doing that, I can confirm.”

Should we shut the borders altogether? 

Conservative former minister Sir Edward Leigh urged the UK to follow Australia’s lead by keeping the borders closed.

He said: “I’m speaking, and I apologise, with the benefit of hindsight but I’m sure everybody would agree that if we’d done what Australia had done we could have opened up our economy months ago – they’ve only had 910 deaths and 29,000 infections.

“So what I want to hear from the Secretary of State is he’s going to resist those very powerful lobbyists from the travel industry, from the airline industry and from the airports and he’s going to be absolutely determined in following the evidence – we don’t know what variants are out there in the world – in not allowing unnecessary travel and really be tough with this red list.”

Matt Hancock replied: “That is the approach we have taken so far since the introduction of the red list and hotel quarantine, and we’re seeing through the testing of every single passenger who comes here we now have essentially a survey of the world, we can see where the cases are, where the new variants are from people who are coming through that testing regime.”

The other side of the argument... 

Responding to India’s addition to the “red list”, campaign group Love Is Not Tourism, which supports international travel for people visiting partners and relatives, posted on Twitter: “Our hearts go out to the countless Britons of Indian/Pakistani origin who will now have to contend with this, after being prevented from travelling out for family/couple reunification.”

Meanwhile... 

Meanwhile, Mr Hancock said two suppliers of Covid-19 tests for international travel had been “kicked off” the government’s approved list having failed to meet their service obligations.

Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman Munira Wilson said: “I’ve been contacted by several constituents who ordered very expensive tests from companies recommended on the Government’s website as part of the test to release scheme.

“Yet some have never received their tests or some never receive their result, some receive their test late, with fear of being in breach of the rules.

“They’ve had to battle for refunds and others we have heard had to leave home to get their test which undermines the whole scheme. So what, if any vetting, does the department undertake before listing these companies, especially as demand will no doubt increase given the Government’s so keen to open up international travel again?”

Mr Hancock responded: “We have kicked two suppliers off the list of approved suppliers for testing for international travel. We are quite prepared to do more if they don’t meet the service obligations that they sign up to.

“If she wants to send in the individual evidence then we will absolutely look at it. We keep this constantly and vigilantly under review.”