Race to expand quarantine hotel availability for returning travellers

MINISTERS are racing to address the shortage of hotel rooms designated for quarantining Britons stuck abroad in red-listed countries.

Some of the holidaymakers and travellers stranded in South Africa say they have been told they will have to wait until next Monday to return to the UK, forcing them to spend hundreds of pounds more on bed and board abroad.

Travel industry sources claimed Nigeria was added to the red list even though there was not enough quarantine hotel capacity to accommodate the extra passengers. Anyone returning from any of the 11 red-listed countries has to spend 11 nights in a quarantine hotel at a cost of up to £2,285. It is understood arrivals at Heathrow have to be bussed to Milton Keynes and Luton because hotels around the airport are prioritising paying Christmas guests.

“The Department of Health and Social Care [DHSC] is desperately trying to find more hotel space,” a source said. “It is going to have to be massively expanded. That’s what they are very, very focused on in the coming days, especially with Nigeria having been added and the likelihood of others to follow.”

The hotel shortages came as Dominic Raab, the Justice Secretary, yesterday admitted the return of pre-departure tests for travellers flying into the UK would make only a “marginal difference” in stopping the spread of the omicron variant.

He said the testing regulations, which come into force at 4am tomorrow, were part of a package of “incremental” restrictions that would help avoid having to impose a future lockdown, even though they were “another burden” on hard-pressed travellers.

More than 200 people stuck in South Africa have set up a Facebook group to share their experiences and anger after being told they cannot enter the UK until the DHSC finds more hotel space.

Lauren Hopkins, who runs a recruitment agency, said she faced an extra 11 days stranded abroad after being told that a quarantine hotel room would not be available until Dec 13

Another victim, Karen Ferrar, said she had been trying to book a quarantine hotel for four days. “We are effectively being held hostage here because of our Government’s shambolic handling of all of this,” she said.

The DHSC acknowledged some passengers had been unable to get a room but advised people not to travel until they had done so as they could face a fine of up to £4,000 for arriving without a booking.

A DHSC spokesman said: “We are rapidly expanding our hotel capacity following our immediate and precautionary action against the omicron variant. We have doubled the number of hotel rooms available from Monday and will continue to increase availability on a daily basis.”

It came as the Government faced growing criticism from its scientific advisers, the travel industry and opposition MPS over the decision to reimpose the requirement to take a lateral flow or PCR test two days before arriving in the UK. It applies to all travellers regardless of their vaccination status.

Prof Mark Woolhouse, a government scientific adviser, said introducing predeparture tests now was “too late” to make a difference, adding: “I think that may be a case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.”

He said: “If omicron is here in the UK, and it certainly is, if there’s community transmission in the UK, and it certainly looks that way, then it’s that community transmission that will drive a next wave.

Yvette Cooper, Labour’s new shadow home secretary, welcomed the “U-turn” but said the Government should have moved sooner.

However, travel bosses warned it was another “hammer blow” for the hardhit industry.

‘We are effectively being held hostage here because of our Government’s shambolic handling of all this’