Chances of Pakistan exiting UK travel red list '50:50'

PAKISTANI authorities have their fingers crossed as the UK government is set to review its travel data this week.

Pakistan’s diplomats in London feel that there are “50:50 chances” of the south Asian nation exiting the UK’s travel red list, according to media reports on Tuesday (24).

Britain retained Pakistan in the red list during its last review, while shifting India to the amber category, a measure that sparked a furore in Islamabad.

Pakistani officials conveyed to the UK government that the Covid situation changed on most parameters since the last review, as positivity and fatality rates have come down and genome sequencing showed improvement, according to Geo News.

Prime minister Imran Khan is believed to have raised the issue during a telephonic conversation with his British counterpart Boris Johnson last week, apprising him of the inconvenience the Pakistani community faced in the UK because of the travel restrictions.

After a “communication gap” in July meant that British health officials could not access vital information on the pandemic situation in Pakistan, Islamabad has been regularly sending data to the UK’s Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC).

Despite Pakistan’s optimism about the country being downgraded from the red list to the amber list, the UK has not given any indication about its move when it takes a call on Wednesday (25) or Thursday (26).

However, the two sides discussed the jump in the positivity rate in Pakistan’s Sindh province, Geo News reported.

Media reports also said Pakistan along with Turkey and Egypt is a borderline country for the removal from the UK’s red list.

Pakistan reported 3,772 new infections and 80 fatalities on Monday (23), taking its Covid death toll beyond the 25,000-mark.