https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-58783591 .....Those coming from red list destinations must still pay to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days.
There is press noise that the number of red countries will go down to 9 from current 54 in the near future ie layer this month
The one I found is the Daily Record, they are saying a change down to 9 countries later this week, I bet the Phils remains on it even through the Theta variant is no longer considered a variant of interest never mind concern. I think it will still be too late for me, I would have to get a visa and flight arranged along with a change in my time off in December prior to Christmas so that I would get out of quarantine in time to actually spend Christmas with my kids. I'm starting to plan for February.
Philippines remains on the RED list as of this press release 6.10.2021 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/travel-advice-changes-made-for-over-30-countries-and-territories
A lot of those are small or tiny populations, this was more so they could sound like they were making a big change, thirty countries but few of them have large populations, obviously Bangladesh is huge but an awful lot of these are tiny countries.
COVID-19: Travel red list countries slashed to seven with 47 destinations set to be removed | UK News | Sky News Properly scrapped now, Philippines is finally off the list from Monday. Probably still too late for Christmas for me but will need to see, getting the birth certificates and a Visa and a flight at a sensible price is probably not possible now, but February should be possible.
No the visa waiver programme is suspended for the duration, only valid visa holders are allowed into the country and you have to prove you are eligible which for me means I am the parent of a Filipino child, so I need their birth certificates, actually I really only need one of their birth certificates but I would rather get spares for both of them.
saw an aircraft fly over high altitude going SE direction, towards Australia. First one I'v seen for two years.