US citizens told: Do not travel to UK

HOPES for holidays to the US were dashed last night after the UK was added to its ‘do not travel’ list.

The US Department of State said the pandemic continued to ‘pose unprecedented risks to travellers’. The US government added dozens of countries to its blacklist and said it ‘strongly recommends US citizens reconsider all travel abroad’.

About 100 countries were added to the ‘Level Four: Do Not Travel’ advisory list, including the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Mexico, Germany and others, citing a ‘very high level of Covid-19’.

It would appear to dash hopes of a UK-US travel corridor from May 17, when the UK Government intends to resume overseas travel. The UK is expected to confirm its ‘green’ list of countries on May 10, with the US thought to be one of the few places Britons can visit without the need to quarantine on return. The US yesterday said it had administered 200million vaccine doses.

The US State Department said its decision to update its travel advisories was to bring it more in line with those from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and ‘does not imply a reassessment of the current health situation in a given country’.