Scenes of huge crowds at Heathrow Airport yesterday have been called ‘incredibly worrying’, as travellers queued for hours with no way of socially distancing.
Hundreds of passengers queues up as they had their documentation checked, on the day Boris Johnson refused to rule out tougher travel rules for new arrivals.
On Monday ministers are set to discuss their options, including the whether to force people coming to the country to quarantine in a hotel.
As pictures emerged of a packed Heathrow, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds called on the Government to ‘get a grip’ of the situation.
He said: ‘The Conservatives’ indecision and incompetence has left holes in our country’s defences.
‘There’s no clear strategy in place and they are lurching from one crisis to another.
‘The scenes at airports are incredibly worrying, with no social distancing and clearly risking transmission of yet more strains of this awful virus.
‘Ministers need to get a grip to protect our country’s health.’
A number of images and videos posted to social media over the last few days have shown queues at passport control.
Sir Peter, a former British ambassador to the United States, wrote alongside his: ‘T2 Heathrow Friday afternoon. No ventilation. Long delays. Superspreading.’
Passenger Sajiv Mathew said: ‘Surely there is a more efficient way to verify passenger documentation.
‘Hundreds of passengers including children and the elderly, have been waiting in line for almost 2 hours.’
‘Hundreds of passengers including children and the elderly, have been waiting in line for almost 2 hours.’
A Government spokesperson said: ‘We are in a national lockdown to protect the NHS and save lives. People should not be travelling unless absolutely necessary.
‘You must have proof of a negative test and a completed passenger locator form before arriving. Border Force have been ramping up enforcement and those not complying could be fined £500.
‘It’s ultimately up to individual airports to ensure social distancing on site.’
A spokesperson for Heathrow pointed out that immigration halls are controlled by Border Force officials – who are helping to implement new rules around negative Covid tests for passengers – and not by airports.
He added: ‘We’ve been clear since last May really that social distancing in an airport environment isn’t really possible.
‘To put that in context, if you had one aircraft of let’s say 300 people, you’d need a queue about 1km long to socially distance just one aircraft, which is why last summer we mandated face coverings in the airport.’
It comes after the Prime Minister suggested more may have to be done to ‘protect our borders’ amid fears that coronavirus variants found in South Africa and Brazil may be less susceptible to Covid-19 vaccines.
Yesterday he said: ‘We may need to go further to protect our borders.
‘We don’t want to put that (efforts to control the virus) at risk by having a new variant come back in.’
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source https://metro.co.uk/2021/01/23/super-spreader-fears-after-heathrow-rammed-with-people-rushing-back-to-uk-13953417/