Quarantine billshocker
A charity worker who spends time in Malawi has said he is relieved the country is no longer on the travel red list, but has said it should never have happened.
Kevin Simpson founded the charity ‘Malawi Fruits’ 10 years ago, resulting in many trips to and from the country.
On return from his most recent trip at the start of December, Kevin was forced to pay £2285 to stay in a quarantine hotel as the country was added to the Scottish Government’s red travel list.
This meant Kevin had to spend 10 days in the Holiday Inn Express in Edinburgh, despite testing negative for coronavirus three times.
However, just three days after he was allowed to leave his quarantine, all countries were removed from the red list.
The 57-year-old said: “I am relieved for the people of Malawi that this decision has been made. However, I believe the fact the country was put on the red list at all was the wrong one and was made without any thought.
“I think the speed at which it was removed from the red list shows that it wasn’t the right choice.
“Unfortunately for me, I travelled home in the window of time where I had to fork out for quarantine.”
Kevin spoke about the effects that this may have on Malawi, which is one of the poorest countries in the world.
He believes that people may still hold off on choosing to travel there, as there may still be a risk the country could be added back on the list and people would be forced to quarantine again.
He said: “Trips to Malawi and other African countries will still be affected by this decision.
“The risk of having to pay well over £2000 to stay in a hotel for 10 days will make people think about planning to travel. This has an effect on the people who stay there.
“Just as I was leaving my hotel I was contacted by a friend who stays in the country and sells woodwork to tourists.
“He said that due to people not wanting to travel there that his village would have another hungry year.”