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Coronavirus testing options at airports should be explored as a way to reduce the number of travelers who must spend two weeks in quarantine, Labor says.
A review of the “chaotic” quarantine rules should consider a “robust testing regime” given the “dire warnings” from the travel industry, the party says.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that the airport tests would identify only 7% of cases and therefore could give a “false sense of security.”
A government spokesman said how the tests could help were being evaluated.
“Any potential changes to testing for arrivals should be robust to minimize the chance that positive cases will be missed,” he said.
The BBC has been told that a cabinet decision on the introduction of tests at airports has been repeatedly postponed and may now never happen.
People entering the UK face 14 days of self-isolation unless they are traveling from countries that are exempt, a status determined by independent authorities in each of the four nations.
In recent weeks, Britons who were on vacation in France, Spain and the Netherlands have been caught up in the removal of waivers on short notice.
Last week, Scotland and Wales told arrivals from Portugal and parts of Greece to self-quarantine, while England and Northern Ireland held off.
UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps admitted that it had created a “confusing” situation for travelers.
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And in a letter to Home Secretary Priti Patel, the Labor Party argues that the agreements are “losing public confidence and undermining our ability to keep people safe and save jobs.”
Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds calls for a review to 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 to safely minimize the need for a 14-day quarantine,” he writes.
“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 also said there were “serious concerns” in the poor tracking of inbound travelers, stating that “less than a third of passenger location forms are reviewed.”
Airlines have criticized the use of quarantine measures at a time when blockades around the world have contributed to a collapse in passenger demand.
On Friday, Virgin Atlantic announced plans to cut another 1,150 jobs after completing a 1.2 billion pound bailout deal, months after making 3,150 layoffs as a result of the collapse in demand caused by the pandemic.
Airport bosses have also criticized the ministers.
On-site test facilities had already been established at London Heathrow Airport, Chief Executive Officer John Holland-Kaye said last week.
“It’s frustrating that the government just hasn’t made a decision to go ahead with this, when the governments of other countries in Europe are moving forward and making it happen,” he added.
France and Germany are using tests at airports for passengers arriving from countries with a higher infection rate.
And on Friday, former Brexit Secretary David Davis said tests at UK airports, with results to passengers in two hours, could reduce the quarantine to “less than five days”.
“If someone is positive, they should be quarantined right there,” he said, arguing that the government could pay to house him in underused airport hotels.
However, the prime minister responded by pointing to Public Health England’s model which suggests that only 7% of cases would be detected.
While understanding “the difficulties” facing the airline industry, Johnson said that “93% of the time you may have a false sense of real security, a false sense of confidence when you arrive and take a test.”
“The quarantine system that we have has to be an important part of our repertoire, of our toolbox, in the fight against Covid,” he added.
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