TORONTO -- Britain is allowing travellers from dozens of countries to arrive without self-isolating for 14 days, but Canada and the U.S. are not on the list.

On Friday, the British government announced it would cancel the two weeks self-isolation requirement for people arriving from countries deemed a “lower risk” for the coronavirus. 

According to the guidance, travellers who have only been to or stopped in the countries on the list during the previous 14 days won’t have to self-isolate upon their arrival in Britain.

Some of the countries on the “travel corridor” list include Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Belgium, Australia, and New Zealand.

Both Canada and the U.S. did not make the list.

With confirmed cases of COVID-19 climbing in 40 of 50 U.S. states and a record 52,300 newly reported cases on Friday, the U.S. remains the hardest-hit country in the world.

Canada, on the other hand, has seen a steady overall decline in new cases in recent weeks.

Other notable omissions from the list of 59 countries include Russia, Sweden, Portugal, India, and China. No countries in North, Central, or South America were given the exemption.

U.K. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps explained that countries will be given a colour based on a traffic-light system – meaning green is for low risk, amber is for medium-risk, and red is for high-risk.

The U.S., for example, falls into the red category, according to the secretary.  

The changes come into effect July 10 and only apply to arrivals in England with the semi-autonomous administrations in the rest of the U.K. – Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – refusing to lift the quarantine period for travellers on the list.

The British government has chosen to relax the travel restrictions despite the fact that the U.K. has recorded nearly 44,000 deaths related to coronavirus, only behind the U.S. and Brazil as countries with the most deaths worldwide.

With files from The Associated Press