Britain introduces new travel measures as Omicron cases rise to 160

As fears of a new variant Omicron looms, Britain has tightened curbs for travellers. According to the new measures, Britain will now require all inbound travellers to have a negative pre-departure Covid-19 test. 

Also, Health Minister Sajid Javid on Saturday said that travellers coming in from Nigeria will have to quarantine in hotels. These changes will come in from Tuesday. 

Along with this, the travellers will need to take a PCR test before the end of their second day in the UK. After which, they are required to self-isolate until their negative result comes back.

This comes in as the total number of Omicron cases in the country has risen to 160.

Also read | One in 60 people in England estimated to be infected with COVID-19: Britain's ONS

"We've kept the data under review over the last week or so since we learned about Omicron, and we're seeing increasing number of cases linked to travel," Javid said.

He further added, "We've always said we will act swiftly if we need to... and that's why we decided to bring in this change on pre-departure tests."

Britain is one of the worst countries hit with the virus with over 145,000 fatalities and over 10 million Covid cases.

Meanwhile, according to Britain's Office for National Statistics (ONS), one in 60 people in England would test positive for coronavirus in the week ending November 27 with an estimated 898,900 people in England who have the virus.
ONS said the percentage of people who had contacted the virus in England had increased. 

In Wales, the trends were uncertain. However, the agency claimed that 1 in 45 people were estimated to be infected with a similar number in Northern Ireland and 1 in 65 in Scotland.

(With inputs from agencies)