Why is India not on the red list yet!

[Sunnyfreezesushi]

I have just been reading about the worrying Covid situation in India and the variant there. Why has the U.K. government not put India on the red list? It appears entirely political rather than health driven to me. Our government is going to make the same mistake again, aren’t they? I know Bojo is meant to go to Delhi and we have close political ties and probably lots of citizens travelling there and back, but it seems madness that that is still allowed with home quarantine. Unfair on Bangladesh and Pakistan too. That is what makes me think it is a political decision.
Or is the variant there more like ours? Or is it because we rely on vaccine import from
India?

You could say the same about Turkey. And France to be fair. Are any of these countries identifying the variants in their testing?

I read this morning that the first case of the Indian variant has been found in the UK.

I agree it should be on the red list.

too little too late

everything this Gov has done in this pandemic has been woefully slow

It should have been on the red list. Sadly, might be too late as we already have the new Indian variant in the country. We need better quarantine arrangements for people coming into the country.

I don’t think it is too late to add it. Covid is a numbers game - you get to a certain number and it takes over very quickly. If you impose hotel quarantine now, then only those who absolutely need to travel and have the means to pay for it, will travel. If you do home quarantine, people will travel back and forth and quarantine at relatives etc houses and spread it on quickly that way.
So red listing now would keep numbers down further. If their variant evades vaccines more than others, it has to be done quickly. I suppose they do not know the answer to that. They are clearly hesitating for political reasons.

Because Boris Johnson is going there on a trade trip soon.

@CoffeandPancakes

I read this morning that the first case of the Indian variant has been found in the UK.

I agree it should be on the red list.

First 77 cases found in UK (73 in England, 4 in Scotland)

www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/covid-19-variant-india-found-uk-b930003.html

Of course the Indian variant was going to make it to the UK with borders open the way they are because there are such close ties between the two countries and so many UK citizens have family in India, lots of children at boarding schools/business links etc etc.
I alone know 10 people who have been to India in the last 3 months. So the UK government needs to act now or it is being highly irresponsible surely? I am sure the Indian government would understand so perhaps the political discussions between the 2 are happening in the background.
In fact, I saw quite a few Indian tourists in London this week. They probably have second homes in London.

Absolutely no clue. The only thing I can think is that the Govt does not want to do anything which impact the forthcoming trade discussions (utterly foolish and typical of the current Government's attitude of profit before its people IMHO).

Everywhere should be on the red list imo. Otherwise you’re just shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Money. Pure and simple.

Sometimes I wonder if standing outside parliament with a massive banner reading “SHUT THE FUCKING BORDERS” would help to focus their minds on the urgency of the situation. But I doubt the decision makers would even notice through the tinted windows of their ministerial cars. It’s beyond enraging.

At Christmas, when the “UK variant” went crazy we were banned from France etc, retrospective quarantine in Switzerland etc etc. Basically, the same is happening in India right now and the government are not reacting quickly enough, AGAIN! I think I am going to emigrate as soon as I can. The vaccines only carry us so far and this is going to go on for years and years, at this rate. I do not think everywhere should be on a red list but one thing our government should have learnt is watch other countries very carefully and if COVID goes crazy there with a worrying variant, close borders straight away, regardless of “relationship”. I mean we are not going to not trade with France or Switzerland in the future because they closed borders to use temporarily at Christmas.

Brexit is the reason.

We've just destroyed our biggest trade partnership. The government is desperate to sign new ones in an attempt to demonstrate "the benefits of Brexit".

While we're in this position, if major economies like India say "jump", we say "how high?"

@Thunderblunder

Because Boris Johnson is going there on a trade trip soon.

This.

Absolutely shambolic!! What the hell is going on with leaving the border open with India, thought as much when they said cases were surging a couple of weeks ago and now another strain. This will never end.

God I wish we had someone who had a clue as our PM is bloody useless.

I just can’t believe that the UK government does not seem to be learning anything from what has happened in this pandemic so far. The vaccination programme has been really good - but it potentially could be destroyed is we let variants spread. We would have to start all over again. Is this really what the government wants?

Agree that leaving India off the red list appears to be a (very bad) political decision. Why can the government not learn from its mistakes re importing the virus into the UK?

@halcyondays

Everywhere should be on the red list imo. Otherwise you’re just shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Pretty much, yes I agree. The India variant along with how many others will be all over the world by now.

India don't want us to put them on the red list.

So we can't.

Because we desperately need a trade deal with a large economy to conceal how badly Brexit has damaged us.

Brexit damage is like a slow leak or exponential viral spread, you don't notice it until suddenly you really notice it, and once the grace periods run out people will start to notice.

It's also probably why Raab is suddenly toeing the Biden line on Russian interference in our democracy despite everything he has said to the contrary before.

Here's a pretty good article on the situation in India, and what we know or don't know yet.

science.thewire.in/health/sars-cov-2-variants-b117-b1617-india-second-wave-uncertain-future/

I think they are due to have unimaginably high levels of daily deaths within the next month or so.

Johnson. He never learns. Utter incompetence.

We should put everywhere on the bloody red list, close the boarders to everything apart from essential travel and let us get on with normal life here until everywhere else is ploughing through the vaccines.

If we keep numbers as they are now we could easily be close to fully open, we can spend money in our own country for a year rather than taking it abroad.

@lunar1, I agree.

I feel terrible for the travel and holiday industry, but I honestly can't see how we won't end up right back to square one if we don't do this.

@Thunderblunder

Because Boris Johnson is going there on a trade trip soon.

Yes. A good example of the 'essential' work trips exempt from our extremely lack lustre so called border restrictions.

It's as if modern technology like Zoom and video calls hadn't been invented...

All countries should be on the red list. Passengers mix with each other on flights and at the airports (and then with the general public on trains and cabs from the airport).

Don't wait until the horse has bolted.

The way to go is to 'red list' everywhere, with real quarantine (airport hotels), until the majority, or at very least all 30+, are fully vaccinated.