Bangladesh removed from UK COVID travel red list

Bangladesh has been removed from Britain's COVID-19 travel red list following repeated requests by the Bangladeshi government.

"Travelers from Bangladesh will no longer require 10-day hotel quarantine from 22 September 2021," Saida Muna Tasneem, Bangladesh's high commissioner to the UK, said in a tweet early Saturday.

Earlier, Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said that due to the red list classification, more than 7,000 British-Bangladeshis are currently stranded in Bangladesh.

The UK also removed the tag for Turkey, Pakistan, the Maldives, Egypt, Sri Lanka Oman, and Kenya, it announced Friday.

As the country has seen a downturn in infections, 60-70% of the country's population may have developed antibodies for the virus, said Dr. Firdausi Qadri, a recipient of the 2021 Ramon Magsaysay Award.

Bangladesh on Friday reported a total of 27,147 COVID deaths and 1.54 million infections to date.