UK minister says no plans to add all of Europe to travel "red-list"

"We don't know... we've got to protect this country and the progress that we've made, but at the same time I totally understand that lots of people want to travel abroad this summer," Hancock said.

There are no plans for travellers from Europe to be added to Britain's travel "red-list" with mandatory quarantine in hotels on arrival, health minister Matt Hancock said on Tuesday, in the face of rising infections on the continent.

Britain's Health Secretary Matt Hancock gives an update on the COVID-19 pandemic at a virtual news conference at 10 Downing Street in London, Britain February 8, 2021. Undocumented migrants in Britain will still be able to get COVID vaccines without being subject to status checks, the government said on Monday. Tolga Akmen/Pool via REUTERS (REUTERS)

"We don't have any plans to do that... we don't rule it out but we don't have plans to do that now," Hancock told LBC radio, adding he was unsure whether travel would be able to resume by July.

"We don't know... we've got to protect this country and the progress that we've made, but at the same time I totally understand that lots of people want to travel abroad this summer."