The United Kingdom (UK) government has removed Namibia from its list of ‘red list’ countries, considered dangerous to travel to due to high cases of COVID-19 and slow pace of vaccination.

A media statement issued on Friday by Executive Director in the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation, Penda Naanda, said Namibia was taken off the list on Thursday, 07 October 2021, and it will be effective from Monday, 11 October 2021.

Naanda said the decision to put Namibia on the red list was detrimental to Namibia’s tourism sector, and the decision to lift the categorisation is welcomed by the Namibian government and its people.

This decision taken by the government of the UK follows after the ministry engaged the High Commission of the United Kingdom in Windhoek, while the High Commission of Namibia in London also engaged at all levels with the UK government on the issue, he said.

“Consideration should also be given to the fact that the curve of infections in Namibia is clearly flattening, the proportion of severe cases and fatalities is lower in Namibia than in many other countries and increased genome sequencing is being undertaken in Namibia,” said Naanda.

He added that the onus is now on Namibia to demonstrate that it is a safe country to travel to, a task the Namibian tourism sector and the ministry has taken to heart.

“We will also have to continue to advocate for vaccination in order to achieve herd immunity, and implement health protocols to keep our nation as healthy as possible,” said Naanda.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency