The UK government is expected to announce early this week the introduction of hotel quarantine for people arriving in the country, with travellers expected to be required to pay for the cost of doing so. However, a government source told BTN Europe that even stricter measures are under consideration, including a blanket ban on arrivals and departures.
The proposed measures, to be discussed at a meeting of the Covid operations committee of cabinet ministers today or tomorrow, are intended to stop the entry of new variants of the Covid virus into the UK.
On Sunday, the UK’s health minister Matt Hancock said, “The new variant I really worry about is the one that is out there that hasn't been spotted.”
On the agenda of the meeting are a range of measures, including:
• Quarantining of arrivals in hotels, although it is unclear whether UK nationals would be required to do so;
• A ban on arrivals and departures, except in a very limited number of cases for nationals, as has been in place in Australia since March last year;
• Travel bans on arrivals from countries where new variants emerge;
• Scrapping the test to release scheme which lets arrivals cut quarantine to five days on receipt of a negative test;
• Tagging the mobile phones of those arriving in the UK to ensure they do not break quarantine.
The hotel quarantine issue has been widely discussed across the media since we first reported on the proposal last Thursday and, like other leaked policy decisions, is expected to be implemented in some form.
A senior government source close to the discussions said, “They are putting vaccine protection above vacation I would say, and [are] intent on introducing more measures to stop new variants entering the UK and ruining the vaccination programme.”
Paul Charles of travel consultancy The PC Agency said, “The government must publish its Economic Impact Assessment, before introducing measures such as hotel quarantine, and outline its exit plan. The UK is not like Australia so border clampdowns hurt our economy far more. It would be better for the government to gauge the true impact of its recent travel triple lock - of negative test, entry form and home quarantine - before making everyone hotel quarantine.”
Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO of the Advantage Travel Partnership said, “As travel is limited right now, any further restrictions are unlikely to have any material short-term impact for most of our members. However, there are many industries that still need to travel for essential purposes and for these sectors the ongoing and changing travel restrictions create a challenge for our members.
“It can be exceptionally difficult for them to provide the necessary travel arrangements for their clients when so many borders are closed and there is no international or industry collaboration on entry and departure measures, and especially in relation to testing requirements.”
Abby Penston, CEO of Focus Travel Partnership, said, “We all recognise that public safety has to come first, and we all knew that these first couple of months of 2021 were going to be tough – and it is.
“Essential workers are still travelling and 81 per cent of our partner members said that they even had
clients travelling over the Christmas and New Year period. Bookings are steady
and nearly 60 per cent of bookings are being made for travel within seven days.
“As
the travel landscape becomes even more complex, the impetus for corporates to
hire a responsible travel management company becomes greater.”