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Boris Johnson ‘will force travelers from high-risk Covid countries to quarantine themselves in hotels for ten days’ in the decision to be made on Monday
- PM favors targeted approach rather than quarantining all air passengers
- Travelers from Brazil and South Africa will be greeted upon arrival and escorted to hotels.
- Johnson hopes to chair a Covid committee to finalize the measures tomorrow
Boris Johnson is ready to force visitors from high-risk Covid countries to self-quarantine for ten days, The Mail on Sunday understands.
Sources said the prime minister favored a more specific approach rather than quarantining all air passengers.
Travelers from Brazil and South Africa, as well as their neighboring countries, will be greeted upon arrival and escorted to hotels to be quarantined for ten days according to plans being discussed by Ministers.
Johnson is expected to chair a Covid-O committee to finalize the measures tomorrow. Passengers must pay for compulsory hotel stays.
Boris Johnson is ready to force visitors from high-risk Covid countries to self-quarantine for ten days, The Mail on Sunday understands. Pictured: Crowds at London Heathrow Airport
Meanwhile, random checks for quarantined travelers from all countries will be ‘stepped up’ this week with visits to make sure they are home.
The checks would be carried out by England’s police or Public Health officials, a government source said last night.
Interior Minister Priti Patel is among cabinet ministers who are in favor of increasing controls.
At the moment they only made after three missed or ‘suspicious’ phone calls.
The people were found not to be quarantined where they said they would be fined. Ministers are understood to have rejected the proposals for GPS tracking of all arrivals on civil liberty grounds.
Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps said “there is no complete closure of the border,” adding: “You always have to make sure you have a system that citizens can return to.”
EU leaders are reportedly drawing up plans to ban flights from the UK to all member states.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on the bloc to act in unison to prevent a new wave of the virus.
Portugal and the Netherlands have already suspended flights to and from Britain amid concerns about the new variant of Covid.
Meanwhile, photos of crowds at Heathrow airport raised concerns about poor social distancing and the “over-spreading” of the virus.
Former British Ambassador Sir Peter Westmacott posted a photo on social media with the caption: ‘T2 Heathrow on Friday afternoon. No ventilation. Long delays. Super spread. ‘
Yesterday, a source from the Interior Ministry said: ‘Airports are huge. We are encouraging them to weave people around airports in more socially distanced ways. ‘
