Sajid Javid clears England’s travel red list as Omicron takes hold

All 11 countries to be removed from list as concerns about importing variant diminish

• Coronavirus – latest updates

All 11 countries on England’s travel red list are to be taken off it from 4am on Wednesday, amid diminishing concern about Omicron cases being imported into the country.

Given that the variant has already taken hold in the UK – making up a third of new infections in London – the health secretary, Sajid Javid, announced that mandatory hotel quarantine for those arriving from some southern African countries was set to end.