Ministers ‘exploring quarantine hotels’
Ministers are to discuss a four-nation approach to possible further restrictions on international travel to the UK today.
The Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, said yesterday that the UK must be “cautious” around borders, and that the situation has changed because of new variants of Covid-19 discovered abroad.
He told the BBC’S Andrew Marr Show: "The argument has changed, and the conversation around borders has changed, because of two things: one, the new variants, and two, the success of the vaccine rollout programme, which means that we cannot put all of this progress at risk. “
There are 77 known cases of a new South African variant of the disease in the UK, Mr Hancock said, adding that they are under close observation but there are not yet any cases of community transmission of this variant.
There are nine known cases in the UK of the first new variant discovered in Brazil.
Mr Hancock added: “International travel right now should not be happening unless it’s absolutely necessary, for instance for a medical emergency [...] on international travel we are being very cautious and we don’t rule out further measures. We’re working together across government to make sure we have the right rules in place to keep this country safe, especially from the new variants. Really I’m worried about the South African variant."
Deputy First Minister John Swinney said quarantine hotels in Scotland are “being explored”.