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Long queue scenes emerged at Heathrow Airport for a second day, raising concerns about a lack of social distancing.
Images circulating on social media, including one of high-level diplomat Sir Peter Westmacott, appeared to show queues of people on border patrol without obvious social distancing Friday afternoon.
On Saturday morning, a video posted by ITV Good Morning Britain correspondent Richard Gaisford of Heathrow showed a similar situation.
“The tail is incredibly long, just snakes and snakes and snakes through the building,” he said.
“It doesn’t appear to be the safest way for Covid to treat passengers … There definitely seems to be something wrong with the system.”
At noon, Gaisford tweeted that Border Force had opened its self-service doors and the queue had started to move.
“It’s hard to see why it didn’t happen in the first place, or why other screening measures were put in place,” he added.
Labor’s shadow health secretary, Nick Thomas-Symonds, called on the government to “control” the situation.
He said: “The indecision and incompetence of the conservatives has left holes in the defenses of our country.
“The scenes at airports are incredibly worrying, without social distancing and clearly with the risk of transmission of more strains of this terrible virus. The ministers must take control to protect the health of our country ”.
Sir Peter Westmacott, a former British ambassador to the United States, Turkey and France, also shared a picture showing big butts at the Border Force checkpoints at Heathrow on Friday.
He said: “T2 Heathrow on Friday afternoon. No ventilation. Long delays. Superspiring “.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: “The Border Force is currently experiencing some delays as they ensure passenger compliance with the latest UK government travel requirements.
“Our teams are available to support the Border Force whenever possible. We have extensive signage throughout the airport, including in immigration corridors, reminding passengers to adhere to the Government’s social distancing guide, but there are points on the airport journey where social distancing is not always possible.
“That is why face coverings are mandatory in all terminals, as they help reduce the risk of transmission at the airport.”
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A government spokesman reiterated that people should not travel “unless absolutely necessary.”
They said: ‘You must have proof of a negative test and a completed passenger locator form before you arrive. The Border Force has been increasing enforcement and those who do not comply could be fined £ 500.
“Ultimately, it is up to individual airports to ensure social distancing in place.”
Comes as prime minister Boris johnson He suggested that more might need to be done to “protect our borders” amid fears that variants of the coronavirus found in South Africa and Brazil may be less susceptible to Covid-19 vaccines.
“We may have to go further to protect our borders,” he said Friday.
“We don’t want to jeopardize that (efforts to control the virus) by having a new variant come back.”
