This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Petition Remove South Africa from the travel red list by Christmas
South Africa is once again being treated unfairly due to coronavirus. Their infection rate is significantly lower than the UK's. South Africa has a sophisticated and advanced infectious diseases infrastructure, with some of the world's leading epidemiologists working in South Africa.
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South Africa had the capabilities to detect new strains of COVID-19, but this does not mean that South Africa is the origin of variant, as has been portrayed by some.
There are hundreds of thousands of people who have not been able to see their families in years, families who have missed special occasions, missed funerals, missed moments together due to travel bans.
Remove South Africa from the red list by Christmas to allow families to reunite without the scandalous hotel costs.
This petition is closed This petition ran for 6 months
Related activity
MPs debate changes to travel restrictions for red list countries
On 14 December, the Government announced that all 11 countries which had been on the 'red list' would be removed as of 4am, Wednesday 15 December. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid MP also confirmed that temporary testing measures for international travel will be retained.
MPs discussed these changes as part of a debate on a range of changes to covid-19 restrictions.
Read the Government's announcement of these changes: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/11-countries-removed-from-the-uks-red-list
Read updated guidance for travel to England: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-to-england-from-another-country-during-coronavirus-covid-19
Read what was said during the debate: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2021-12-14/debates/8034393B-C568-4DE6-8695-1D63F957537E/PublicHealth