More Quarantine Rules
Posted on 10th February 2021 at 16:19
As the worlds battle with coronavirus continues, along with the great success of the UK vaccine roll out, unfortunately the aviation business has been dealt yet another blow.
In order to try and contain new variants (mainly Brazil and South African), as mentioned in my previous blog, a red list of approximately 30 countries has come into effect. Most of us (me included), presumed these new rules took immediate effect from when the home secretary announced them several days ago. Alas not, they come into law from Monday 15th February.
They are not too straight forward, and I have tried to understand them myself, and I hope a few lines from Matt Hancock,s Commons statement earlier today will help !!! (good luck)
Mr Hancock announced :
Arriving travellers put in quarantine hotels in England will be charged £1,750 for their stay, which includes transfer and testing.
Passengers face fines of up to £10,00 for failing to quarantine and those who lie on their passenger locator forms face up to 10 YEARS IN JAIL !!!
The Cabinet minister told the Commons that 16 hotels have been contracted for the hotel quarantine programme which begins on Monday.
UK nationals or residents returning from 33 “red list” countries will be required to spend 10 days in a Government-designated hotel of which there are 16
He also confirmed the new “enhanced testing” regime for all international travellers, with two tests required during the quarantine process from Monday.
Matt Hancock also said passengers will need to pre book their hotel stay online, in advance, and this system opens this Thursday
Another part of the rules are putting even more work onto the airlines/carriers as he stated :
“Passenger carriers will have a duty in law to make sure that passengers have signed up for these new arrangements before they travel, and will be fined if they don’t, and we will be putting in place tough fines for people who don’t comply”.
“This includes a £1,000 penalty for any international arrival who fails to take a mandatory test, a £2,000 penalty for any international arrival who fails to take the second mandatory test, as well as automatically extending their quarantine period to 14 days, and a £5,000 fixed penalty notice – rising to £10,000 – for arrivals who fail to quarantine in a designated hotel”.
I understand the idea, which is really to stop people travelling for a while, but it doesn’t help the airlines ! Below is a statement from the CBI. Its good to hear this argument:
The Confederation of British Industry’s chief UK policy director Matthew Fell said: “Business understands the priority is to protect the health of the population, and supports measures to reduce infections and hasten the return to a normal way of life”.
“Yet these new quarantine rules and testing requirements are a further reminder of just how challenging the situation is for the international travel sector right now”.
“Further, immediate support is now essential to protect companies and jobs in the aviation sector and its supply chains in the difficult months ahead. The Government should also be clear on a road map to relaxing restrictions when health data permits”.
“The UK’s world-class aviation sector – which underpins so much of our economic activity – must be supported so that it can play its full part in the country’s recovery”.
Again, lets just keep hoping we all return to normal at some point sooner rather than later. When will that be ??? A glimmer of hope as Matt Hancock said :
“Of course these measures, whilst necessary now, are not measures that can be in place permanently. We need to replace them over time with a system of safe and free international travel. That’s where we need to get to”.
Fingers crossed. At this rate the worlds going to stop turning completely…
Best wishes
Stay safe
PPTmk
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