UK set to outline quarantine measures for international arrivals
Published May 22, 2020 12:00 am
By Reuters
LONDON - The United Kingdom will later on Friday spell out details of its plans for a COVID-19 quarantine for travellers arriving from overseas, a measure that airlines have warned will devastate their industry.
Passengers arrive from international flights at Heathrow Airport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in London, Britain, May 10, 2020. (REUTERS/Toby Melville / MANILA BULLETIN)
The government is expected to announce that all international arrivals, including returning Britons, will be required to self-isolate for 14 days and provide details of where they will be staying to the authorities.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that those who breached the quarantine would be fined 1,000 pounds with health and border officials carrying out spot checks.
“I can’t say just yet how long this quarantine will last for,” Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis told BBC TV. “It is something we will be reviewing every three weeks or so.”
The government has indicated that only those arriving from the Irish Republic would be exempt from the quarantine along with those in a number of specific jobs, such as freight drivers.
Transport minister Grant Shapps has also suggested the government would seek to negotiate “air bridges” for travellers coming from countries with low virus infection rates.
Lewis said full details of the plan, which aims to try to prevent a second peak of the coronavirus pandemic, would be outlined by the interior minister, Priti Patel, later.
Unlike many other countries across the world, Britain has carried out few tests and checks on visitors, with quarantine limited only to arrivals from China at the start of the outbreak.
That has led to accusations that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government had been far too slow to act, but it now also faces criticism over plans to bring in the quarantine.
Airline bosses have said the measures would have severe repercussions, with Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, saying they would be “unenforceable and unpoliceable” and would be ignored.
Passengers arrive from international flights at Heathrow Airport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in London, Britain, May 10, 2020. (REUTERS/Toby Melville / MANILA BULLETIN)
The government is expected to announce that all international arrivals, including returning Britons, will be required to self-isolate for 14 days and provide details of where they will be staying to the authorities.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that those who breached the quarantine would be fined 1,000 pounds with health and border officials carrying out spot checks.
“I can’t say just yet how long this quarantine will last for,” Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis told BBC TV. “It is something we will be reviewing every three weeks or so.”
The government has indicated that only those arriving from the Irish Republic would be exempt from the quarantine along with those in a number of specific jobs, such as freight drivers.
Transport minister Grant Shapps has also suggested the government would seek to negotiate “air bridges” for travellers coming from countries with low virus infection rates.
Lewis said full details of the plan, which aims to try to prevent a second peak of the coronavirus pandemic, would be outlined by the interior minister, Priti Patel, later.
Unlike many other countries across the world, Britain has carried out few tests and checks on visitors, with quarantine limited only to arrivals from China at the start of the outbreak.
That has led to accusations that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government had been far too slow to act, but it now also faces criticism over plans to bring in the quarantine.
Airline bosses have said the measures would have severe repercussions, with Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, saying they would be “unenforceable and unpoliceable” and would be ignored.