Hotels quarantine ‘likely for travellers’
MINISTERS MULL COMPULSORY MOVE TO CURB COVID INFECTION
THE UK was expected to announce whether it will bring in mandatory quarantine in hotels for some or all arrivals, the vaccination minister said, as he warned the public not to book summer vacations.
Prime minister Boris Johnson said he was looking at the option of introducing quarantine hotels for those coming to Britain to prevent the risk of “vaccine-busting” new coronavirus variants entering the country.
Vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi said details of plans would come later on Tuesday (26), after Eastern Eye went to press.
“The government is looking at, as the prime minister has confirmed, the hotel quarantine policy, and we’ll make an announcement on this,” he told the BBC.
Britain has suffered a sharp rise in the number of infections and deaths in the new year, fuelled partly by a new more highly contagious variant of the virus.
There has been concern about the possible impact of other strains discovered in South Africa and Brazil, and whether these variants might impact on the effectiveness of vaccines which are seen as key to Britain’s way out from strict lockdown measures.
The country has the fifth worst death toll in the world from the pandemic, with 98,531 people dying within 28 days of a positive test, and one of the deepest economic contractions on record. The BBC reported that the new hotel quarantine requirement would mean arrivals from most of southern Africa and South America, as well as Portugal, would have to isolate in a hotel for 10 days.
It said there had been “no definitive decision yet” on those coming from other parts of the world and this was “still a live issue”. Johnson was scheduled to chair a meeting with senior ministers on the decision later on Tuesday.
The measures, among the strictest in Europe if introduced, have alarmed the travel industry with UK-based airlines and airports warning a further tightening of rules would be “catastrophic”. Britain bans most international travel, with flight volumes down 80 per cent compared to 2019 and more than 45,000 jobs lost in the sector.
Airlines UK, which represents carriers including British Airways and easyJet, said in a statement with the country’s trade body for airports that more restrictions could impact cargo movements, including PPE supplies, and jobs could be lost. “We have fully supported the government..., but policy should be based on evidence and there must be a roadmap out of these restrictions as soon as it is safe,” they said. Zahawi also said the public should not be booking holidays abroad this summer. “There’s still 37,000 people in hospital with Covid at the moment, it’s far too early for us to even speculate about the summer,” he told Sky News.