In a little-noticed response to a question from a Midlands opposition MP, the health secretary has said that as omicron becomes dominant, all international travel restrictions could end ‘very soon’.

Over the past two weeks the UK has revived the “red list” and hotel quarantine for arrivals from 11 African countries, introduced mandatory self-isolation for all incoming travellers until they get a negative PCR test result and brought back pre-departure tests.

Tahir Ali, who represents Birmingham Hall Green for Labour, asked Sajid Javid about the chances that nations in the Indian sub-continent could be put on the red list.

He said many of his constituents will have planned a visit during the school holidays to Kashmir, Pakistan, India or Bangladesh. He asked: “Do they go ahead with that?”

The health secretary responded: “It is just not possible to give a guarantee for any particular country that there will not potentially be any future measures.”

But he added: “Very soon, in the days and weeks that lie ahead, if, as I think is likely, we see many more infections and this variant becomes the dominant variant, there will be less need to have any kind of travel restrictions at all.”

The Independent has asked the Department of Health and Social Care for more details.

Charlie Cornish, chief executive of Manchester Airports Group, said: “These restrictions may have slowed the arrival of omicron but it is now transmitting in the community, and the government needs urgently to review whether the rapidly reducing benefit of testing justifies the damage it is causing to consumer confidence. “

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