LONDON, UK
Britain is banning all arrivals from African countries of Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo from Friday to stop the spread of the South Africa COVID-19 variant, transport secretary Grant Shapps said in a tweet on Thursday.
"All passengers from these countries except British, Irish Nationals and third country nationals with residents rights will be denied entry,” Shapps wrote in his tweet.
He said they are continuing to monitor COVID-19 rates and new strains of the virus across the globe, this alongside the suspension of travel corridors and pre departure testing will help protect their borders.
Travellers from South America are no longer allowed to come into the UK, amid fears over a new coronavirus variant first identified in Brazil.
The UK's new travel ban which also applies to Portugal and Cape Verde came into force at 04:00 GMT on Friday.
Like variants discovered in the UK and South Africa, it is thought the Brazil variant could be more contagious.
New rules requiring people arriving in England to have a negative coronavirus test have been delayed to give travellers time to prepare.
The restrictions were due to come into force at 4am on Friday, but have been moved to the same time on Monday.
Shapps last week announced passengers arriving in England by boat, train or plane including UK nationals will have to test negative for Covid up to 72 hours before leaving the country of departure.
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