QUARANTINE hotels have launched from today for all arrivals from "high risk" countries, with a 10-day stay costing travellers £1,750 each.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed new details about the hotels, with a warning that any guests who try to escape before their self-isolation has finished will face up to a £10,000 fine.
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If passengers leave the quarantine hotel before their 10 days are up, they will be handed a £5,000 coronavirus fine, but this figure can increase up to £10,000, Mr Hancock warned.
Travellers coming into England from 33 red list countries will have to book a stay at a quarantine hotel through an online booking platform, which launched last week.
An individual travelling alone will have to pay £1,750 for their ten-day stay, which includes the cost of the hotel, transport from the airport and testing.
However, a second person sharing a room will pay £650, making the total £2,400 for two. The rate for children will be £325.
Passengers will only be able to enter through small number of ports, and they will then be escorted to select hotels that will be closed to general members of the public.
Guests will need to remain in their rooms and not mix with anyone else, with visible security in place.
Mr Hancock also announced plans for all travellers into England to take an additional two Covid PCR tests.
In addition to their negative Covid test before arrival into England, they will then have to take a second and third test on day two and day eight after they enter the country.
There will be a £1,000 penalty for failing to take the first coronavirus test, and a £2,000 fine for failing to take the second.
If either of these post arrival tests comes back positive, they'll have to quarantine for a further 10 days from the date of the test.
For those that are arriving from non-red lists countries, they will be able to continue to quarantine at home, but for those staying in quarantine hotels, their hotel stay will be extended.
Any positive result will automatically undergo genomic sequencing to confirm whether they have a variant of concern.
Mr Hancock revealed today that ministers have signed up 16 hotels with 5,600 rooms.
But it’s estimated that nearly 2,000 people a day are flying into the country from hotspot countries at the moment – meaning they will currently run out of space after just FOUR days.
Passengers face five-hour airport queues today after Heathrow Airport said there was no procedure in place to segregate passengers and warned of long delays at Border Control.
The UK government currently deems 33 countries to be high-risk, although they are regularly reviewing this list.
Destinations on the list include Portugal, the UAE (including Dubai), South America and South African nations – here is the full list of countries affected.
Brits who lie to border force police about visiting Covid hotspots on the red list will face up to 10 years in jail.
The new rules will apply to England only, but similar rules will come in in Scotland too.
It comes as:
- A passenger from South America told how they walked through Heathrow in ten minutes with NO checks
- The World Health Organisation said today Covid did NOT start in a Wuhan wet market – but the lab leak theory is also unlikely
- Brits were warned by Jonathan Van Tam it's still too early to book a holiday abroad for the summer
What will it be like to stay at a quarantine hotel?
Documents seen by The Telegraph show Government appointed security would patrol all floors of the hotels and that guests would have to clean their own rooms.
It's thought security teams will escort guests outside if they need to smoke or get fresh air.
Guests won't be able to choose their rooms but families will be able to quarantine together or in adjoining rooms.
The website explains: "You will need to agree to pay for, and book, a quarantine package before you complete your passenger locator form (PLF) and board your return journey to the UK.
"The package includes the costs of transport from the port of arrival to the designated hotel, food, accommodation, security, other essential services and testing."
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