The number of countries on the UK Covid travel red list will be cut from 54 to seven next week Monday, October 11, the British government says.
Zimbabwe and the other African countries come off the red list, which requires travellers to quarantine in an approved hotel at their cost for 10 full days. This requirement prevented the national football teams from fielding England based soccer players.
UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the changes begin on Monday and “mark the next step” in opening travel.
Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Haiti and the Dominican Republic remain on the red list.
Zimbabwe Warriors face the Black Stars in Harare on 12 October, and there have been fears that the England-based stars in the squad would miss the encounter due to regulations required on all players visiting red-listed countries.
The quartet of Marvellous Nakamba, Tendayi Darikwa, Brendan Galloway and Jordan Zemura should now be in a position to play in Harare after Zifa had dropped them for the home match.
The UK-based players — Nakamba, Zemura, Galloway and Darikwa — were initially not available for the second leg because of quarantine requirements when they return to their clubs.
In full: 47 places removed from UK travel red list
The following destinations will be removed from the red list from 04:00 BST on Monday:
Afghanistan, Angola, Argentina, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chile, Congo (Democratic Republic), Costa Rica, Cuba. Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, French Guiana, Georgia, Guyana, Indonesia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mayotte, Mexico, Mongolia, Montenegro, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Paraguay, Philippines, Réunion, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
