There are two flaws with travel plan – it’s too little and too late
People returning from high-risk Covid countries must pay to quarantine for ten days in a hotel and face ten years in prison if they lie about where they’ve come from (Metro, Wed).
Why has it taken us a year to do this? Surely anyone with any sense realises this would have saved us so much pain if it had been adopted at the start.
If it’s crucial to do this now, why wasn’t it when Australia was doing it a year ago? The old Covid variant was pretty devastating in itself so the ‘new variant’ argument doesn’t hold up at all.
If we had done this early, we probably wouldn’t have the spread we have now and be open to all the new mutations anyway. Australia and New Zealand are pretty much back to normal. They are island nations and so are we. Am I missing something? Gary Hollins, via email
This is a great idea but it should cover arrivals from all countries, not just the 33 on the socalled ‘red list’.
The road, rail and sea borders at all UK countries, including the one between Northern Ireland and Ireland, should also be closed except for essential traffic.
Norrie, via email
Talk about shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted to join the bull in the china shop. Strict procedures at airports and other points of entry should have been in place since March. Instead, the decisions were typically right wing – it was all about the money and sod the people. The Conservative government is responsible for all the Covid deaths.
Alan Massey, Northwich
Scotland has realised that if your bucket has a leak, you must plug all of the holes to prevent water from escaping. England seems to think we can just plug the obvious holes and that will be fine.
The government has had too many failed attempts to sort this out and still it half-heartedly plugs away.
Sending our children back to school would be another failure. Sure, the chance of children becoming badly affected by the virus may be low, but they are a magnet for germs and a great resource for migration of said germs.
This should have been realised at the very start and sorted it out. All this ‘scientific advice’ the government seem to be taking is a joke.
Jon Blackburn, via email
We see Matt Hancock laying down the law. Just think if they had done this last March. But we were told there was nothing to worry about, that they had it all under control. Keith, via email
Finally, finally, this tardy government has got round to realising that substantial penalties are the only way to ensure that the public will comply with the very necessary Covid-19 restrictions.
If only laws with financial penalties, rather than wishy-washy regulations, had been in place and had been properly applied to everyone from top to bottom – including Dominic Cummings et al – from last February, many fewer people might have died.
Allen B, Derby
People have to pay £1,750 for the ten days of hotel isolation but travel boss Paul Charles says hotels are being offered just £50 per room per night to cover the cost of accommodation and three meals a day. So that’s £500 for ten days plus the two tests at, what, £300 for both?
Then transfer from ‘port of arrival’ to the quarantine hotel at another £50 per person? This adds up to £850.
Why, then, will gross charge be almost double that, at £1,750?
Terence Jones, London