ovid-19: First travellers arrive in UK for hotel quarantine stay

image copyrightPA Media

The first travellers required to stay at quarantine hotels have begun arriving at Heathrow Airport.

All British and Irish citizens and UK residents who arrive in England after being in a high-risk Covid country now have to self-isolate in hotels.

The "red list" of 33 countries includes Portugal, Brazil and South Africa.

The new regulations, which aim to stop Covid variants entering the country, apply to arrivals who have been in one of those places in the past 10 days.

They have to pre-book and pay £1,750 to spend 10 days in government-sanctioned hotels. The cost covers the hotel stay, transport and testing.

In Scotland the rule to stay in a hotel applies to travellers from all countries - rather than just those from the 33 "high risk" countries.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the hotel quarantine system had been operating "smoothly" since it came into force at 04:00 GMT on Monday.

• Which countries trigger hotel quarantine?
• Will I need a vaccine passport to travel?

Speaking on Times Radio, he said the government had been working with airports and Border Force to prevent passengers from mixing with other travellers in airports.

When pressed on how "red list" passengers were being kept away from others, Mr Hancock said: "You go down a separate channel at the gates and, once you've been through the gates, which are manned by the Border Force, there is then a security operation supported by the police so that people are gathered, go and pick up their luggage and then go to the hotels."

image captionOne of the hotel rooms being used to quarantine arrivals

image captionMore than 16 hotels have struck deals with the government

The government says it has struck deals with 16 hotels so far, providing 4,963 rooms for the new quarantine system, with a further 58,000 rooms currently on standby.

People travelling from red list countries to Wales and Northern Ireland will be required to book and pay for quarantine in England, as neither destination has any direct international flights.

Any passenger required to stay in a quarantine hotel in England needs to reserve a room online in advance using a government portal.

The additional rate for one extra adult or a child aged over 12 is £650, and for a child aged five to 12 it is £325.

media captionThe hotel quarantine experiences of Aaron in Hong Kong and Jane in Sydney

Those who fail to quarantine in such hotels face fines of £5,000 to £10,000, while anyone who lies on their passenger locator form about having been in a country on the red list faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

A new testing regime for all travellers arriving in England has also started, with two tests required during the quarantine process.

They will be required to get a test on days two and eight of their 10-day quarantine period, whether they are isolating at home or in a hotel. The tests, conducted by NHS Test and Trace, will cost travellers £210.

Those who do not take the tests could face a £2,000 fine.

On Sunday the government said another 258 people had died in the UK within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, bringing the total to 117,166. There were another 10,972 confirmed cases.

• How England's hotel quarantine will differ from Australia's
• What are the new rules and fines for foreign travel?
• 'Significant gaps' in hotel quarantine plan

Among the red list countries is the UAE, where a number of British expats and their families live. One woman told the BBC she had been unable to get back to the UK with her two children after visiting her husband, who is a resident in Dubai.

"The idea was he'd travel back to see us every four to six weeks but this has become impossible and, with hotel quarantine hanging over us, I decided to bring the children to him instead as they were really struggling without him," said the woman, who did not want to be identified.

"After we got here direct flights to the UK from Dubai were cancelled.

"At this point we're taking it a day at a time to see what happens. The children can continue online learning but when the schools go back I have to find a way of getting there.

"This is the thing, so many people think it's easy to just close the borders but in reality people are being cut off from their families for months on end."

Heathrow Airport warned on Sunday that travellers could face suspended flights and long queues at the border.

It said "good progress" had been made on a "number of issues" with the system - but it was concerned about whether Border Force could "cope".

The government said it was working closely with airports and hotels to manage any issues that arose.

Heathrow Airport is one of five in England where people requiring hotel quarantine can enter the UK and is expected to receive the largest number of passengers. The other four are Gatwick, London City, Birmingham and Farnborough.

Last week, Labour's shadow health secretary said the public wanted the government to "go further" on border quarantine measures.

Meanwhile, Scottish Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said the "targeted, reactive approach" of the UK government was "no longer sufficient" to deal with the threat from coronavirus.

And Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said he also wanted to see "a stronger set of defences at our borders" and said the UK government's measures were "the bare minimum of what needs to be done".

Travellers arriving in the UK - whether by boat, train or plane - are already required to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test to be allowed entry.

And all travellers - including British nationals - must self-isolate for 10 days when they get to the UK.

Lockdown rules mean people must only travel abroad for essential reasons.

• What are the rules for international travel?

The 33 red list countries are:

• Angola
• Argentina
• Bolivia
• Botswana
• Brazil
• Burundi
• Cape Verde
• Chile
• Colombia
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Ecuador
• Eswatini
• French Guiana
• Guyana
• Lesotho
• Malawi
• Mauritius
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores)
• Rwanda
• Seychelles
• South Africa
• Suriname
• Tanzania
• United Arab Emirates (UAE)
• Uruguay
• Venezuela
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

• LOCKDOWN LOOK-UP: The rules in your area
• SOCIAL DISTANCING: Can I give my friends a hug?
• TRAVEL RIGHTS: Can I get a holiday refund?
• GLOBAL SPREAD: How many worldwide cases are there?
• LOOK-UP TOOL: How many cases in your area?

Are you travelling to the UK from a "red list" location? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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