Foreign Office Secretary James Cleverly has defended the UK government’s delay in introducing quarantine hotels as ministers reportedly sought to reserve thousands of hotel rooms near airports in time for the program to begin on February 15.
Ministers expect nearly 1,500 UK residents out of 33 to return daily “Red List” countriesThis includes most of South America, southern Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Portugal, where new variants of the coronavirus are floating around. Non-UK travelers from these areas are not allowed to enter the UK. This means that the quarantine plan only applies to UK passport holders.
According to BBC News, officials booked rooms in hotels around major airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick, London City, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. According to reports, up to 28,000 hotel rooms are being sought for the plan.
Arrivals must be quarantined at government-approved hotel quarantine facilities for 10 days at your own expense. Security officers accompany them when they go outside. You will face mandatory payments of £ 80 per day.
Labor has accused the government of putting people’s lives at risk by not acting sooner.
Cleverly defended the delay on Friday, telling Sky News that the hotel industry needed to be informed of the plans.
“We worked with international partners that had a similar package in place – New Zealand, Australia, for example – to see how it worked,” said Cleverly. “It’s very easy for you to say, oh, all you have to do is … but in hindsight it’s a wonderful thing.”
The telegraph Sources have reportedly confirmed that the government will prepay an estimated £ 55 million bill for the rooms and then attempt to recoup the cost of the arrival. Hotels are asked to provide three meals a day for quarantined travelers, plus tea, coffee, fruit and water, and wash up to seven items.
The locations are monitored by government-appointed security guards who patrol inside and outside the hotel to “prevent unauthorized access”. Anyone in quarantine who wants to go outside must be accompanied by security.
According to the Telegraph, a proposal was sent to hotels around 5 p.m. on Thursday. According to the newspaper, documents were seen showing officials estimate that 1,425 passengers will be accommodated every day, mostly near Heathrow.
The announcement of a start date follows days of apparent confusion in Whitehall about how the system will be implemented.
When it was first announced on Jan. 27, Home Secretary Priti Patel said more details would be announced later this week. Speaking at a # 10 press conference on Wednesday, Boris Johnson said Health Secretary Matt Hancock would make an announcement the next day that Downing Street would correct as no statement was planned.
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Welfare said he had discussions with representatives from the aviation, maritime, hotel and hospitality industries, as well as with colleagues in Australia and New Zealand.
“We are now working at a rapid pace to secure the facilities we need to implement managed quarantine for UK nationals returning home from the highest risk countries,” the spokesman said.
“In the face of new variations, it is important that the government continue to take the necessary steps to protect people and save lives.”
