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The new online reservation system for quarantined hotels run by the government suffered technical problems within hours of its launch.
Some users hoping to book their hotel quarantine stays starting next week, as part of Tighter COVID border measures, they received a message that the new online portal was in “maintenance” until 3pm Thursday.
Problems with availability were also discovered during the first two days of the new quarantine policy, which takes effect on Monday.
Sky News found that there were no hotels immediately available at any of the eight sites for February 15-16. However, the quarantine packages, which will be needed for returnees from 33 “red list” countries, could be reserved from February 17.
The website ‘maintenance’ also appeared to be preventing some people from booking the two additional COVID tests required for all UK arrivals starting next week.
Under the new border measures being introduced, those arriving from all countries, not just those on the “red list”, will now have to take a test on days two and eight after arriving in the UK, as part of a 10-day quarantine period.
These will cost £ 210 per person in total and are part of efforts to prevent the spread of new COVID variants in the UK.
Responding to problems with the online portal, Labor shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds posted on Twitter: “This is extremely worrying!
“More than a year after this pandemic and 50 days since the discovery of the South African strain, there are no excuses for further government incompetence in introducing hotel quarantine.
“Ministers must fix this – urgently.”
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A spokesman for the Department of Health and Welfare said: “Rooms are available starting Monday, February 15, and travelers will be able to book through the site imminently.
“The website is undergoing maintenance to correct a minor technical problem.”
A 10-day hotel quarantine package, which includes accommodation, food and the cost of transport from the airport to the hotel, costs £ 1,750 for an adult in a room.
There is an additional charge of £ 650 for an adult or child over 12 years old, or £ 325 for a child between 5 and 12 years old.
