THOUSANDS of passengers at Manchester and Heathrow airports have been forced to stand shoulder to shoulder — despite new Government social distancing rules amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Instead of abiding by strict social distancing rules to help stop the spread of Covid-19, travellers can be seen packed like sardines as they wait to clear immigration and collect their luggage.
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While many have observed social distancing rules set by the Government to stand two-metres apart, there was disturbingly little evidence of that as passengers arrived at Manchester Airport this morning.
Disgruntled passengers even complained to airport officials about people breathing, sneezing and even coughing in close proximity to them.
Disembarking from flights all over the world, people were forced to stand shoulder to shoulder as they endured gruelling waits of more than an hour.
Ian White, a senior reporter at BBC Yorkshire, took the pictures in disbelief — posting them on Twitter.
He captioned the photo: "The shocking scene at Manchester Airport arrivals this morning — no two-metre distancing here."
The shocking scene at Manchester Airport arrivals this morning — no two-metre distancing here
During a number of recent speeches, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged all Brits to practice social distancing and keep a minimum of two-metres away from each other as a way of minimising the spread of coronavirus.
However, passengers from countries such as Italy, China, Iran and Spain — which have been particularly badly hit by the deadly disease — continue to arrive at Manchester and Heathrow airports.
Passengers also expressed concern that as they got off their flights, no checks were being carried out on anybody suspected of being infected with coronavirus and that no information was given to them on any precautions they should take.
The Sun Online has approached both Manchester and Heathrow Airport for comment.
Last week, the chief executives and chairs of Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester airports warned that the coronavirus crisis may result in airports grinding to a halt within weeks without government support.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, the directors pleaded for the Government to make Britain's airports a top priority.
"The decisions that are taken now will dictate the speed of the economic recovery when it comes and we will need to be at the heart of it."
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