UK govt to announce decision on Pakistan's red travel list status today

• Data expert Tim White predicts that the chances of Pakistan, Turkey being removed from the UK red list are still 50-50.
• White adds that Pakistan can be added to the amber list to reunite divided families.
• In August, the UK retained Pakistan on its red list, as it failed to meet the requirements.

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LONDON: The UK government will announce its decision regarding Pakistan's red travel list status today.

Data expert Tim White predicted that the chances of Pakistan and Turkey being removed from the UK red list are still fifty-fifty.

According to White, there is no data available to indicate that Pakistan will be removed from the red list. However, the analyst added that Pakistan can be added to the amber list to reunite divided families.

The data expert also added that the corona positive rate among the passengers coming from Pakistan is 3.2% and despite a decrease in the number of cases in Pakistan, the corona case rate is more than 5%.

White said: "The rate of genomic continuity in Pakistan is also low."

"Pakistan is not even among the 50 countries that have submitted monthly genomic reports," he added.

It is pertinent to mention that genomic sequencing is the definitive method for identifying variants. As of now, it is also the main way that new variants are identified when they appear.

In August, the UK retained Pakistan on its red list, as it failed to meet the requirements on genomic surveillance capability, transmission risk, and variants of concern.