Britain’s 14-day quarantine of visitors draws criticism
LONDON — Britain began imposing a 14-day quarantine Monday on travelers coming into the country, months after other European countries imposed similar measures to control the spread of the coronavirus.
The quarantine was criticized by the aviation and tourism industries, with many questioning its timing. Critics say its introduction has come too late to be useful, and some doubted that it could be effectively enforced.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary called the quarantine a “political stunt” and argued that it will cause “untold devastation” for the country’s tourism industry, not just for the airlines.
“The thousands of hotels, the thousands of visitor attractions, restaurants in the next couple of months — July and August are the two key months for British tourism,” he added. “We’re facing thousands of jobs losses because of a stupid, ineffective quarantine.”
All passengers — barring a handful of exceptions such as truckers or medical workers — will be asked to fill in a form detailing where they will self-isolate for two weeks and must give a phone number so authorities can check up on them. The requirement applies regardless of whether they are U.K. citizens or not, and those who fail to comply could be fined.
The quarantine was imposed after a debate on whether it would help British efforts to tamp down the outbreak or simply stamp out any hopes that the British tourism industry will recover after months of lockdown.
Venki Ramakrishnan, president of the prestigious Royal Society, told the BBC that the coronavirus transmission rate in the U.K. is still too high for the quarantine to work well.
“I would say that countries that have imposed quarantine did so either very early or after the case rate in the country had gone down quite a bit,” he said.
Ryanair, British Airways and EasyJet have written to the British government applying for a judicial review, arguing that the quarantine rules are disproportionate. Willie Walsh, the boss of International Airlines Group, the owner of British Airways, has said airlines were not consulted about the move.
Many other European countries are beginning to reopen their borders as their infection numbers come down.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government has been criticized for its slow response to fighting the outbreak. Many in his government, including Johnson himself, came down with the coronavirus.
Britain did not close its borders, screen international arrivals or impose testing and tracing measures for travelers during the worst of the outbreak. The government had insisted until last month that putting restrictions at the border wouldn’t have a significant impact on the spread of the virus in the U.K.
Figures Monday showed that an additional 55 people have died after testing positive with the virus, the lowest daily rise in the number of coronavirus deaths in the country since late March. Britain’s total death toll stood at 40,597, the second-highest in the world after the U.S.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that while the pandemic is “clearly not over,” all the data showed that the country is making good progress.
“Coronavirus is in retreat across the land. Our plan is working,” he said.
At London’s Stansted Airport on Monday, shopkeeper Netti Rexhmet, who arrived from the Netherlands, said the rule will prevent him from working for two weeks.
“We haven’t got any other options. It’s government law, so I shall do it,” he said. But he added that, “for me, I wouldn’t want to do it. … I’ve got things to do.“