UK sets 15 February start date for Covid-19 hotel quarantine measures

Plans to detain arrivals to the UK from high-risk countries in quarantine hotels will not come into force until 15 February, the government has announced.

With pressure mounting on the government over the lack of details about the key border measure, it was announced that the health secretary, Matt Hancock, would take personal charge of implementation.

Boris Johnson announced last week that travellers still allowed to come to the UK from a “red list” of high-risk countries would be “met at the airport and transported directly into quarantine”.

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Passengers would have to pay for their own stay in isolation. The government said commercial specifications had been made available to hotel firms and other providers, and contracts were expected to be signed early next week.

Ministers discussed details of the policy at a meeting of the Covid-O cabinet subcommittee on Thursday afternoon.

The shadow home secretary, Nick Thomas-Symonds, said the delay in announcing details of the policy was, “putting people at risk”.

“The government’s plans around quarantine are in disarray. Not only do they fail to go far enough – leaving open the door to potential vaccine-resistant strains – they can’t even implement the half-baked plans that have been announced,” he said.