A BASINGSTOKE councillor has welcomed changes to international travel regulations, saying it is a "relief" that people will be able to see their families again.

The government announced several changes to its travel guidance advice, including moving India, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE from the red to amber list.

It will mean that people will no longer have to quarantine in a government-managed hotel when arriving from these countries, and fully vaccinated people will not need to isolate at all on arrival.

It has also seen France move back to the amber list, after concerns about the beta variant.

Speaking to The Gazette, Cllr Arun Mummalaneni (Conservative, Brookvale and Kings Furlong), who moved to the UK from India in 2001, said he was "very happy" to see the changes.

"I welcome these changes and it is a boost for struggling travel and hospitality sectors. I am very happy to see more European countries in green list.

"But outgoing visitor traffic is more than incoming, from Europe. I hope this situation improves in near future."

The former chair of the Basingstoke Multicultural Forum added: "It is nice to see India, UAE and other Middle Eastern countries out of red zone. This means a lot to see friends and families after a long time."

Other changes, which took effect from Sunday, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania and Norway have been added to the government’s green list.

But Georgia, La Reunion, Mayotte and Mexico have been added to the red list.

Travellers arriving in England from countries on the red list, which also includes Brazil, Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan and South Africa, will need to quarantine in a government-run hotel, such as Basingstoke's Crowne Plaza, for ten days on arrival.

The cost of staying in quarantine hotels will rise to £2,285 from Thursday, a move which Cllr Mummalaneni called "painful".

"Increasing quarantine hotel charges is painful. Though government is supporting qualified families financially, families who have to visit for emergency reasons are struggling to spend 10 days in hotels especially when they have kids.

"I request government review its procedures for fully vaccinated red list country passengers. A bit of flexibility for fully vaccinated passengers will help. As people can bring in new variants, this can only be led by guidance from JCVI. "

The Conservative councillor added that he hoped the NHS would be able to provide cheaper PCR tests for travellers.

Currently, travellers coming into England from any country must take at least one PCR test. They are not available on the NHS, and must be paid for and obtained from a private company.

"PCR tests are expensive and there are very few companies offering this service," Cllr Mummalaneni said. "Companies are charging over £100 for a test.

"For long term sustainability improvement is required.

"The NHS is carrying out this service for its patients. Why can’t NHS extend this to travellers with a reasonable fees?"