The UK government has confirmed that it will remove all 11 countries from the travel red list from 0400 on 15 December, but current testing rules will remain in place.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps announced the move on Twitter, which will see the removal of the African nations that were added to the red list starting at the end of November following the discovery of the Omicron Covid-19 variant.

The change means all fully vaccinated travellers – not just UK and Ireland citizens and residents – will be allowed to travel to the country without needing to book and pay for hotel quarantine upon entering the UK.

Health secretary Sajid Javid told parliament he is waiting for advice on whether those already in quarantine, who have paid thousands of pounds to stay in a hotel, will be allowed to leave early.

Current testing requirements, which include pre-departure PCR or lateral flow tests and the PCR test on day 2, will remain in place. Travellers are required to self-isolate on arrival until they receive a negative test result.

Shapps said testing requirements will be reviewed in the first week of January.

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