People arriving in the UK will be required to pay to quarantine
in a hotel, The Times has reported.
The newspaper said the coronavirus operations committee, chaired
by Michael Gove, is to meet tomorrow (Friday 22 January) to discuss the options for further border
controls and that a government source had told the paper that “plans for an Australia-style
hotel quarantine system were being brought forward”.
Australia charges arriving passengers a fee of A$3,000 (£1,695)
to cover the cost of quarantine in a hotel, which is chosen by the authorities.
Hotels including the InterContinental Sydney, the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth and
the Travelodge Surry Hills have all welcomed quarantining arrivals.
Arrivals
must stay in the hotel for 14 days or longer if they test positive. The fee is
fixed no matter which hotel is used and even if the stay extends beyond 14 days.
At Thursday’s daily UK government briefing on Covid, the newspaper’s deputy
political editor Steven Swinford asked home secretary Priti Patel about the plans.
Patel ducked the question, saying that the measures were “speculative”.
Commenting on the mooted plans, Gloria
Guevara, the president & CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council said:
“The latest expected announcement from the UK government, which will force UK
arrivals to quarantine in a hotel for up to two weeks at their own cost, will
be yet another crushing blow to the ailing UK travel & tourism sector.
“After months of forced quarantines post travel, there is
absolutely no evidence to suggest it works. Even the government’s own figures
show quarantines have not proved to be effective in reducing the spread of Covid-19.
“The UK government has in place a risk-avoidance
strategy - at huge social and economic cost to the country - when it could and
should be more effective by managing the risk instead.
“No
inbound British or international traveller would want to embark on a trip
knowing they’d face this disruption and be forced to pay for an additional two
weeks in a hotel upon arrival.”