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Comprehensive coronavirus testing is needed at airports to stop the “terrible” effect the quarantine system is having on the travel industry, Labor said.
The UK government has been making weekly decisions on which travelers should isolate themselves for 14 days based on the countries they are returning from.
But travelers have sometimes been warned just hours in advance, leaving them with inflated airfares if they try to return before restrictions are put in place.
Critics of the system say it does little to boost confidence in the travel industry, which was among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds called for a “robust testing regime at airports” as a way to minimize the need for the two-week isolation period upon return to the UK.
He said there were also “serious concerns” about how the isolation of returnees was monitored, stating that “less than a third of passenger location forms are verified.”
His intervention, which came in a letter to the Minister of the Interior. Priti Patel, was quickly fired by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs Dominic raab during a Sky’s appearance Sophy Ridge Sunday Program.
Raab said the tests at the airport were not a “silver bullet” as its success rate is “less than one in 10”.
He said he did not believe that the Labor Party was “really thinking about this”, adding that the shadow foreign secretary, Lisa Nandy, had sent him a letter expressing the party’s support for the quarantine measures “only a few years ago. weeks. “
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In his letter to Ms. Patel, Mr. Thomas-Symonds wrote: “I am writing to request a quick review to fix the chaotic quarantine arrangements that are losing public trust and undermining our ability to keep people safe and save jobs.
“To rebuild this trust, I ask the government to conduct a quarantine policy review and to submit a report within fifteen days.
“It should include the description of options for a robust testing regimen at airports, and related follow-up testing, that could help safely minimize the need for a 14-day quarantine.
“It is clear that increased testing is an important part of trying to respond to the pandemic and reopen society safely.
“Given the enormous challenges facing the travel industry and the scale of job losses, it makes sense to consider this area as part of a broader package of improvements to the testing regime.”
It comes after a group of airlines and aviation organizations wrote to the UK and US governments asking for a passenger test test for flights between New York and London as a way to move towards normal schedules.
Tens of thousands of jobs have been lost in the aviation sector, and the latest cuts were announced by Virgin atlantic on Friday, which said it will cut 1,150 jobs, just four months after shedding 3,150 jobs.
But on Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said tests at the airport can give a “false sense of confidence”, adding that testing at points of entry only identifies 7% of coronavirus cases.
A government spokeswoman said: “We keep data for all countries and territories under constant review, and if the public health risk of people returning from a particular country without self-isolation becomes too high, we will not hesitate to remove countries. of travel corridors. ” list of exemptions.
“Work is being done with doctors, decentralized administrations and the travel industry to consider whether the tests could be used in the future and how the period of self-isolation could be reduced.
“Any potential changes to testing for arrivals should be robust to minimize the possibility of positive cases being missed.”
