Not enough hotel rooms for quarantine plan

TRAVELLERS to the UK face being bussed from the airport to hotels around the country amid a Cabinet row over whether compulsory quarantine should be enforced at the border.

Boris Johnson is under pressure from ministers to strengthen border controls to prevent new variants of coronavirus from reaching the UK.

Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, said authorities have already identified 77 cases of the South African variant in the UK, and have placed the patients under “very close” observation.

Mr Hancock and Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, are understood to be pushing for a mandatory quarantine in government-approved accommodation for all arrivals.

But limited hotel capacity near major airports could mean passengers must be transported by bus to rooms elsewhere in the UK to wait out a 10-day quarantine period.

Government sources told The Daily Telegraph there were only around 10,000 hotel rooms in and around Heathrow Airport, which is approximately the number of people arriving in Britain via the airport every day.

Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, has made the case for quarantine to apply only to arrivals from high-risk countries where cases are high or new variants have been discovered.

Ministers will meet tomorrow to weigh up the policy, and could decide that arrivals must pay for their own quarantine hotel rooms, significantly increasing the cost of travelling to the UK.

Scientists on the Government’s Sage advisory committee have recommended the quarantine apply to travellers from all countries.

The Labour Party yesterday joined the calls for an “effective quarantining regime”, beginning with quarantine hotels. Nick Thomas-symonds, the shadow home secretary, said: “We need now to put additional protections in place.”

Other measures to be considered by the Cabinet tomorrow include a full Australian-style border closure, or a compulsory 10-day isolation period for arrivals, with no option to end the period by testing negative after five days.

Travellers could also be required to use “locator apps” to prove they have remained at home during the isolation period.

A full closure of the borders or mandatory hotel quarantine is unpopular with Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, and Liz Truss, the International Trade Secretary. The pair are concerned about harm to the aviation and travel sectors. However, Mr Sunak was last night reported to have warmed to the proposals.