A government minister has defended the rules in England on quarantine hotels for arrivals from high-risk countries, after it emerged they are less stringent than those in Australia.
Some reports said that the English system, which comes into effect on Monday, would allow quarantined travellers to go outside for air or a cigarette if accompanied by a member of staff.
However, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said outings for cigarettes would not be permitted, and those in quarantine would be allowed, at most, once chance a day to exercise in hotel grounds, and only if these were suitable and if other Covid-security measures were in place.
This is still unlike in the Australian model, which was introduced early last year, and where those quarantining have to stay in the hotel room. Even with its stricter rules, Australia has experienced outbreaks of Covid-19 among staff at quarantine hotels and their family members.
Asked why people were to be allowed out of their rooms in quarantine hotels despite concerns that it could facilitate the spread of coronavirus, the Home Office minister Victoria Atkins told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Apart from anything else we know that being outside is less likely to transmit than being inside. But I think allowing someone to go for fresh air during a 10-day visit in a hotel with all the very strict measures that we have, I think, is reasonable.”
A document detailing the UK government’s official requirements for hotel operators, seen by the BBC, showed the rules to be weaker than Australia in other aspects as well. Security guards and hotel staff will not be tested regularly – in Australia they are paid to take a test daily – nor will guards be given a higher-specification mask, unlike in Australia.
Свежие комментарии