Why Boris was so reluctant to cancel his India trip

Just a few hours after Boris Johnson confirmed that his trip to India had been postponed, the country has been placed on the government’s red list. Following reports of a new India variant of Covid, travel to the UK is to be banned — with those returning from the country facing hotel quarantine as of 4 a.m. Friday. Announcing the news, Health Secretary Matt Hancock told MPs that initial data on the new strain meant that the travel ban had been put in place on a ‘precautionary basis’. 

The decision was viewed as inevitable after the Prime Minister’s trip to India scheduled for next week was cancelled. Johnson had been so keen for it to go ahead that just days ago even though the situation was worsening, No. 10 insisted it would proceed as planned. That not even the Prime Minister thought the trip was doable points to the seriousness of the health situation caused by the new variant, which initial research suggests is more transmissible and could be resistant to certain treatments.