14-day quarantine ‘will close factories’

MANUFACTURERS have slammed the Government’s plans to introduce a 14-day quarantine for visitors to the UK.

The five main industries have warned some experts and engineers need to be exempt if they are to keep their factories operating. The aviation, chemical, food, pharmaceutical and car sectors said the requirement could lead to supply shortages, interfere with production and even cause more job losses.

Under the plans, all arrivals must provide details of accommodation where they could self-isolate for 14 days, or spend that time in Government-provided accommodation. Anyone breaking the rules risks being arrested and fined between £100 and £3,200.

The chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, Ian Wright, said that without exemptions the policy could ‘cause real issues for food and drink supply’. He said: ‘They simply won’t come. Broken machinery could lead to unpredictable delays in production.’ Airlines said it would effectively kill travel. Paul Everitt, chief executive of ADS which represents the wider aerospace and defence sector, said there would be an ‘additional impact on manufacturing, servicing and maintenance where engineers are tasked to travel to the UK to fix critical issues’.

The Chemical Industries Association wants exemptions for workers crucial to ‘essential factory and laboratory operations and executives taking on-site decisions’.

A Government spokesman said the plans sought to ‘prevent reinfection and a second wave of cases that overwhelms the NHS’.