Travellers to the UK will now have to take a COVID-19 test before their departure regardless of their vaccine status, Health secretary Sajid Javid announced on Saturday.

Javid tweeted on Saturday evening the UK would be "taking further action to slow the incursion of the Omicron variant."

From Monday, Nigeria would also be added to the red list of countries from where people arriving must quarantine in a hotel for 10 days, Javid also added.

 

The UK began tightening travel rules earlier this week. Shortly after the detection of the first couple of cases of the Omicron variant, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced all travellers would need to self-isolate until they test negative within two days of arriving.

According to the BBC, as of Saturday 27 cases of Omicron variant had been detected in the UK.

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