Britain announces tougher entry rules for all arriving passengers

Britain announced tougher entry rules for all arriving passengers and the return of a masks mandate, after confirming its first two cases of the new Omicron strain of Covid-19. AFP reported.

The cases were both linked to travel from southern Africa, and the government also expanded travel restrictions on the region with the addition of four countries to a “red list.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said face masks would again be required in shops and on public transport, after controversially ditching the mandate in July when he reopened the UK economy after a prior nationwide lockdown.

He signaled no new lockdown now, vowing a review of the new measures in three weeks and expressing hope that Britons could look forward to a more festive Christmas than last year.

“But we now need to go further and implement a proportionate testing regime for arrivals from across the whole world,” Johnson told a news conference, hours after the government confirmed the first two Omicron cases.