We also want to ensure all employees are aware of the impact increasing Coronavirus restrictions will have on any overseas travel they may have planned over the coming festive period and winter months.

While at the start of November the red list had been emptied, over the last two weeks UK government has added 11 countries to the list, including South Africa, Botswana and most recently Nigeria.

Government guidance is that people in the UK should not travel to these countries. If you are returning from a red list country, you must:

• take a COVID-19 test in the two days before you travel to England
• book a quarantine hotel package, including two COVID-19 tests
• complete a passenger locator form

Note that these quarantine hotel packages must be paid for by the traveller and the costs for these can be considerable – the price for one adult in one room is £2,285. These rules apply even if you are fully vaccinated.

For those arriving to the UK from non-red list countries, it is now mandatory to take a pre-departure COVID test a maximum of 48 hours before departure time. This is in addition to the requirement announced last week that all travellers arriving into the UK from any country abroad must take a mandatory PCR test on or before day two, and they must isolate until they get a negative result. Again, these rules apply even if you are fully vaccinated.

For more information about the Government’s red list and its requirements, visit here.

We understand that this is a popular time of year for travel abroad but please do be extra careful and take all the required precautions including wearing face masks, maintaining good hygiene practice and following the Behaviours that Save Lives. The situation around the Omicron variant is changing on a daily basis and there may well be further restrictions to follow over the coming weeks.  The Guardian published a useful article about the latest COVID travel rules for the 10 most popular holiday destinations from the UK. You can read this here.