India will be added to the ‘red list’ of high risk countries.
It takes effect from Friday 23 April and most people who have been in India in the past 10 days will be refused entry.
It comes after 103 reported cases of the India variant in the UK, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.
After studying the data, and on a precautionary basis, we’ve made the difficult but vital decision to add India to the red list." Hancock told MPs.
It applies to flights into England and Scotland.
The new variant has been exhibiting ‘concerning’ genetic changes that need analysing.
The government is boosting surge testing to quickly identify any new cases in the UK.
Four months ago India banned flights from the UK to stop the spread of the UK variant.
