LONDON (Bywire News) - The health minister, Matt Hancock said that the new COVID-19 hotel quarantine program put in place for people arriving from high-risk countries is going to plan, just hours after the system was introduced.
Despite the promising start, concerns still exist, not only about prolonged queuing times but also the risk of passengers from high-risk countries contaminating other travellers.
England has only recently boosted its border restrictions in an attempt to stop any new COVID-19 variants from entering the country. Currently, Britain has a list of 33 countries that are considered high-risk, the 'red list'. These countries include Brazil, Portugal and the UAE. Anybody travelling from these countries must subject themselves to 10 days quarantine in a hotel room, with a total cost of £1,750.
Following the announcement of the new rules, within hours queues at England's largest airport, Heathrow, had a waiting time of less than an hour.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Times Radio, "This is working smoothly, we've been working with the airports and with the border force to make sure everybody knows the process."
When questioned about travellers mixing, Hancock said: "When people arrive in the UK, the ports and airports have got specific arrangements for those that need to go into quarantine."
All those arriving in the UK must have a negative COVID-19 test result, he added.
Heathrow Airport is one of the five entry points across England open to arrivals from red list countries. A spokeswoman for the airport said that the tight restrictions have been a success. She added, that airport officials were on alert to ensure that there was an appropriate amount of border force agents available to prevent prolonged waiting times or risking the safety of passengers.
The weekend prior to the introduction of the hotel quarantine, arrivals at Heathrow waited up to five hours just to get through border control. The airport said that if the queue waiting time becomes too long, some flights will have to be cancelled.
Under the new restrictions, only British/Irish nationals and people with British residency have the right to travel into England from the red list countries. Failure to follow the restrictions can result in a £10,000 fine or even a 10-year prison sentence.
The United Kingdom as a whole has one of the highest COVID-related death tolls in the world, with 117,00 people have died. A further 4 million people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Britain alone since the start of the pandemic.
(Written by Klaudia Fior)