Transport secretary Grant Shapps confirmed the latest changes to the government’s travel corridor list in a series of tweets posted shortly after 5pm on Thursday (19 November).
Namibia and Rwanda become the country’s first African travel corridors.
Uruguay, meanwhile, becomes the second Latin American country to be added to the list after Chile was added last week, although it has a prohibitive minimum seven-day quarantine on arrival requirement – even with evidence of a negative Covid test prior to departure.
Also gaining, or regaining, their travel corridors are Bonaire, St Eustatius & Saba, the Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands.
No countries have been removed from the travel corridor list.
It comes after the UAE, Qatar, Iceland, Chile and Cambodia were added to the list this time last week.
There was no update, however, on the progress made by the government’s Global Travel Taskforce on its efforts to reduce the country’s 14-day self-isolation on arrival requirement through testing.
The taskforce had been due to present its findings to prime minister Boris Johnson "no later than early November".
Speaking in the Commons on Wednesday (18 November), several MPs raised doubts about whether the taskforce had yet fed back to the PM, and warned the delay could impact Christmas travel plans.
Shapps tweeted: "Travel corridor update: Israel, Namibia, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Uruguay, Bonaire, St Eustatius & Saba, the Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands have been added to the travel corridor list.
"If you arrive from these countries after 4am on Saturday 21 November, you will not need to self-isolate.
"Please remember that under the current restrictions, travel outside of the home, with the exception of a limited number of reasons including work or education, is not permitted.
"We will not be removing any countries from the travel corridor list this week."
