People arriving in the UK could be asked to stay in quarantine hotels as ministers consider plans to deal with the spread of the pandemic. Dominic Raab has said.
Raab said the government “considered all options” when asked about reports in the Sunday Times that ministers had been working on plans to create quarantine hotels for those coming to the UK.
The report says the quarantine hotels are following the model New Zealand politics of “directional isolation,” could use GPS and facial recognition technology to ensure people stay isolated.
Raab said on Sunday to Sophy Ridge from Sky: “We will examine all measures in the round.
“In terms of enforcement, we will be stepping up controls at the border. So when people come in to make sure they have completed the passenger location form, they have the negative test that they have to vouch for before you get on the flight.
“Since the removal or suspension of the travel corridors will result in people being quarantined and self-isolating for 10 days, we are making sure that Public Health England is checking that people are following these rules.
“Not only are we changing the rules, we’re also making sure we improve the capacity for these reviews.”
Raab rejected claims that the government was too slow to take border measures to prevent imports of new coronavirus variants. He told the Andrew Marr Show, “I don’t accept that we have been too slow on this – we are by and large the same speed on Canada and Germany.”
Raab said the government’s goal is to deliver the first dose of the vaccine to 17 million people by the spring, if restrictions could be lifted. However, he said the English lockdown is unlikely to be lifted across the country at once, with a return to the Tier system. “I think it’s right to say that if we let the national lockdown expire and people end up stepping through the tiered approach, we won’t do everything in one fell swoop. We want to make sure that we can do this in a safe and easy way. “
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He said the government will seek advice on easing restrictions and will publish its “exit plan” in due course.
Raab would not be included in an article in the Sunday Telegraph reporting officials believe that the introduction of vaccination could be accelerated to vaccinate all over 18s in the UK by the end of June, but said he was “calmly confident” that the government will meet this target by September.
“When I look at the numbers, I think people just want to hear what the real facts are with them. We have now vaccinated over 3 million. If you take the UK compared to other countries across Europe we have twice the vaccination rate of the next leading country, Denmark. “
He refused to guarantee that everyone who received the first dose would receive the second within 12 weeks due to concerns about vaccine supply.
“I think if we follow the roadmap and supply chains we set, along with the backup we have because we have the dosage volume – 360 million – and we also have seven suppliers, we should be able to do that deliver.
“But of course we had to adapt to all sorts of things on the way through this pandemic. So we’re just focusing on making sure we’re following the roadmap that we have, ”said Raab, adding that people receive a“ very high ”level of protection after receiving a dose of vaccine.
The Foreign Secretary said people shouldn’t go on vacation as he warned that the NHS was “just around the corner”.
“I think for the moment people should stay home unless absolutely necessary. No, they shouldn’t go on vacation – I don’t think that’s appropriate,” he told Sky.
Jonathan Reynolds, the secretary for shadow work and pensions, said he would “look into” the possibility of quarantining hotels for passengers returning from abroad.
Reynolds told Sky’s Ridge on Sunday, “If this is the most effective way of doing this, I would take a look. I’m not sure if this is necessarily the case. “
