After months of no checks, UK mulls quarantine for visitors

The airlines industry warned of a debilitating effect of the measure. Ministers and health officials previously claimed checking and quarantining visitors had a marginal effect, but the new plan led many to demand why now, after over 31,000 people have died in the UK.

A row erupted on Saturday after it was revealed that the Boris Johnson government is considering quarantining all visitors for 14 days from May-end, with the opposition Labour and critics demanding why thousands have been allowed in without checks so far.

Under the plan, people who arrive at airports, ports and Eurostar railway stations will be asked to provide the address they will self-isolate for two weeks upon arrival by filling out a digital form. (AP)

The airlines industry warned of a debilitating effect of the measure. Ministers and health officials previously claimed checking and quarantining visitors had a marginal effect, but the new plan led many to demand why now, after over 31,000 people have died in the UK.

Under the plan, people who arrive at airports, ports and Eurostar railway stations will be asked to provide the address they will self-isolate for two weeks upon arrival by filling out a digital form. Those from Ireland, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are to be exempted.

Lisa Nandy, shadow foreign secretary, said she had raised the issue of quarantine five times to prevent a resurgence of cases. Tens of thousands of people on flights from China and elsewhere have arrived in the past three months, without checks or quarantine.

Johnson is due to announce “modest” relaxation in lockdown measures on Sunday evening, but leaks in the British media suggest quarantine is one of the measures being considered to prevent a second peak of coronavirus. According to Johnson, the UK is past its first peak.

Bodies representing airlines awaited details of the quarantine plan, but Airlines UK said: “This proposal would effectively kill international travel to and from the UK and cause immeasurable damage to the aviation industry and wider UK economy”.

“Nobody is going to go on holiday if they’re not able to resume normal life for 14 days, and business travel would be severely restricted. It will also make it all but impossible for aviation to resume any time soon, thereby setting back the UK’s economic recovery still further.”

Karen Dee of the Airport Operators Association, said the plan would “not only have a devastating impact on the UK aviation industry, but also on the wider economy…There should be a clear exit strategy and the economic impact on key sectors should be mitigated”.

The number of virus-stricken patients in hospitals has been dwindling in recent days, particularly in the worst affected area of London. The dead include a six-week-old baby and 614 people categorised as ‘British Indian’ by NHS England.

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