Coronavirus: Airport Tests Not a “Miracle Solution,” But Quarantine Could Be Reduced to Seven Days, Suggests Grant Shapps | Political news

The tests at the airport are not a “silver bullet” that will end the need for quarantine, the transportation secretary told Sky News.

But Grant Shapps confirmed that the government was considering reducing the amount of time it takes travelers returning from higher-risk countries to isolate themselves from 14 days to seven.

Ministers face pressure from airports and other aviation companies to “control” the quarantine policy due to the severe economic effects that the industry still faces.

Mr. Shapps said “I hear the calls” but admitted: “I’m afraid this coronavirus It’s just not easy to navigate and we have to do our best. “

He pointed to France, where he said they had conducted tests at the airport, but now “they realized the same thing.”

“It’s not really the magic bullet for this,” Shapps told Kay Burley’s show.

“What you have to do is be able to test later with a quarantine period as well.”

Shapps shed light on the possibility of reducing the quarantine period, saying, “You probably have to have some kind of quarantine period here, maybe seven or eight days, maybe a test then.”

“But these are the things we are working on right now.”

Glyn Jones, chief executive of Southend airport, said the “absence of clear advice from the central government” continued to “erode consumer confidence.”

As ministers ponder the possibility of reducing the length of the quarantine, he urged them to act quickly to “put down the hammer” of adding entire countries to the list and “take the scalpel” by working on a route-by-route approach.

Wales’ decision last night of put several Greek islands on his quarantine list instead of the whole country “showing this can be done,” Jones added.

Aviation is the sector that has seen the second largest number of jobs lost due to the pandemic, with at least 32,015 people who have lost their jobs since COVID-19 exploded.