UK to ban travellers from South America and Portugal from Friday

Travellers from Portugal also barred but government criticised over testing regime

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The UK government has been accused of putting lives at risk with a botched border policy after it banned arrivals from South America and Portugal several days after concerns emerged about a new Brazilian variant of Covid.

The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, announced that arrivals from more than a dozen countries including Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia and Peru would be halted. He said Portugal had also been included because of its close travel links with Brazil.