All travellers returning to the UK could soon be forced to quarantine in government-approved hotels, with an announcement expected this week.
The prime minister is facing mounting pressure to tighten border control amid concern from scientists that the new variants found in Brazil and South Africa may be less susceptible to the Covid vaccines.
Under plans being considered, all travellers would face a mandatory 10-day quarantine period in government-approved hotels – but Britons may have to pay for the stay out of their own pocket.
A decision is expected to be made by Boris Johnson today following a meeting with the government’s Covid-O committee to weigh up the proposal.
Key senior ministers such as Matt Hancock, Rishi Sunak, Priti Patel and Michael Gove are said to be pushing for the plan, along with some members of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage).
The prime minister and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps are believed to favour a more targeted approach that would only see travellers returning from high-risk countries to quarantine in designated hotels.
But Ms Patel is said to have argued that a blanket travel measure is necessary as there could be new variants circulating in other countries that have not yet been detected.
Reports suggest that several sources believe Mr Johnson will sign off on the idea, which has been modelled on Australia’s quarantine policy, as early as today.
But limited capacity at nearby airport hotels could further complicate plans, with government sources telling the Telegraph that there are only about 10,000 rooms in and close to Heathrow Airport.
This is roughly the number of travellers arriving in Britain through the airport every day, meaning people could be transported by bus to other hotels around the country.
Countries such as Australia and New Zealand, which have successfully managed to control infection rates, adopted the mandatory hotel quarantine policy months ago.
Australia has gone a full week without any cases, while New Zealand had been Covid-free for months until last week when it detected four new cases.
Mr Hancock echoed the home secretary’s concerns over undetected variants due to a lack of genomic sequencing services – which are key in spotting new strains – available in other countries
‘The new variant I really worry about is the one that is out there that hasn’t been spotted,’ the health secretary told Sky News on Sunday.
Mr Hancock added: ‘There are probably others elsewhere that simply haven’t been picked up because the country doesn’t have that genomic sequencing service.’
He confirmed there are now 77 cases of the South African variant in the UK and that all cases were linked to travel.
The health secretary said so far, nine cases of the Brazilian strain have been detected.
In further updates, he said three-quarters of over-80s have now received their first dose of a Covid jab but warned the country is still a ‘long, long, long’ way off relaxing lockdown restrictions.
He told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme: ‘Well there is early evidence that the lockdown is starting to bring cases down but we’re a long, long, long way from being low enough because the case rate was incredibly high.’
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