Passenger says he'll do 'whatever it takes' as he lands in Edinburgh
Passenger says he’ll do ‘whatever it takes to stay’ as he lands at Edinburgh airport and is whisked straight off to hotel quarantine for 10 days – after Nicola Sturgeon arrivals from ALL nations must isolate
- Chun Yong arrived at Edinburgh airport with his eight-year-old daughter Kiernan
- He said: ‘I made it, I’m glad I’m here and whatever it takes to stay – I’m good’
- Some concerned travellers could dodge tougher rules by arriving in England
An overseas traveller today said he is happy to do ‘whatever it takes’ as new quarantine measures came into force for Scotland.
People flying directly into a Scottish airport on international flights have to self-isolate for 10 days in a quarantine hotel room, under new regulations that took effect this morning.
Unless exempt, a passenger will have to pay £1,750 to quarantine in a room at one of six designated hotels in a bid to avoid new virus variants arriving into the country.
Chun Yong arrived at Edinburgh Airport this morning with his eight-year-old daughter Kiernan, having caught a connecting flight at Dublin from the USA.
He said: ‘I made it, I’m glad I’m here and whatever it takes to stay – I’m good. We’ve talked to (my daughter) about it already so it’s going to be a nice hotel stay – if anything we will get our feet settled here.
‘I’m just glad that we’ve landed and just getting ready to get settled. Even though I’ve got my Covid-19 shots already (I’ll do) whatever it takes to make sure everybody is safe – I’m all for it.’
Chun Yong arrived at Edinburgh Airport on Monday morning with his eight-year-old daughter Kiernan, having caught a connecting flight at Dublin from the USA
Mr Yong said: ‘I made it, I’m glad I’m here and whatever it takes to stay – I’m good. We’ve talked to (my daughter) about it already so it’s going to be a nice hotel stay – if anything we will get our feet settled here’
The traveller added: ‘I’m just glad that we’ve landed and just getting ready to get settled’
Mr Yong added he would spend his time in quarantine with his daughter playing Guess Who, Uno and maybe poker.
In England, the UK Government will only require hotel quarantine for visitors from a ‘red list’ of 33 countries designated as high risk, meaning travellers arriving from elsewhere could avoid it by entering Scotland via England.
Visitors would still have to self-isolate for the 10-day period, but would not have to do so at one of the designated hotels due to a lack of agreement between Scottish and Westminster governments.
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Monday that he is happy to discuss the matter with the Scottish Government.
Six hotels have been block-booked in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow, with up to 1,300 rooms available.
Three of the the hotels are near Edinburgh Airport, two close to Glasgow Airport and one near Aberdeen Airport.
Scottish Government guidance stipulates those subject to quarantine require a negative Covid-19 test no more than three days before travelling and to have booked at a room at a quarantine hotel in advance.
A family arriving from Turkey are escorted to a quarantine hotel after entering the country on the first day that travellers flying directly into Scotland on all international flights have to self-isolate for 10 days
Unless exempt, a passenger will have to pay £1,750 to quarantine in a room at one of six designated hotels in a bid to avoid new virus variants arriving into the country
They will also have to submit a passenger locator form to the Home Office declaring which countries they have been to in the 10 days before arrival in the UK.
Airlines have been asked to check for these and they will also be checked by Border Force officers on arrival, who can issue fines of £480 for non-compliance.
Security will then escort passengers to baggage reclaim and to pre-arranged transport to the quarantine hotel.
On arrival at the hotel, they will be given two home testing kits to be used on days two and eight of isolation.
These are covered by the cost as are three meals per day, fruit and soft drinks.
If they test positive at any point they will be required to stay in the hotel for 10 days after the test, at an additional charge starting at £152 daily for the first adult.
Security guards escorted passengers arriving at the Edinburgh airport terminal directly into a coach to take them to a hotel
Quarantine hotel chaos: Passengers with ‘no idea’ about travel ban land at Heathrow to be hit with £500 fines before being escorted to hotels and told they can’t leave for 10 days and must pay £1,750
By Rory Tingle, Vivek Chaudary and Shekhar Bhatia for MailOnline
A Heathrow arrival today claimed to have ‘no idea’ about the new hotel quarantine scheme before being hit with a £500 fine and told to pay £1,750 for 10 days’ isolation.
British businessman Wayne Kelly said he had not heard about the new rules for high-risk countries before he was handed a note by Border Force warning him to expect a penalty for breaching Covid laws.
Meanwhile, others slammed ‘ridiculous’ rules confining them to their rooms despite having mixed with travellers not on the ‘red list’ during the flight home.
Travellers were dropped off at hotels near London Heathrow Airport as the new scheme began and a hospitality boss vowed to make their ten-day, stay more ‘homely’ with ‘branded shampoo, puzzles and crockery’.
Dozens of passengers were seen arriving by coach at the four-star Radisson Blu Edwardian after touching down in the UK from a variety of Covid red list countries including the United Arab Emirates, Zambia and South Africa.
Guests will pay £1,750 per person for the 11 nights, plus an additional £650 for anyone over the age of 12 and £325 for children aged between five and 12. There will be no extra fees for children under five.
Throughout their stay guests will have to eat airline-style food left at their door, change their own sheets and towels and be accompanied by security if they want fresh air or a cigarette outside.
The Radisson offers spacious and airy rooms with large windows, Egyptian cotton linen and goose down pillows – although confined guests will be unable to enjoy its spa or choice of three restaurants. Standard rooms cost around £150 a night while superior suites include their own Nespresso machine.
In other Covid developments today:
- Ministers discussed plans to allow for shops to re-open, families to be re-united and self-catering staycations to be given the go ahead if Covid-19 infection rates continue to plummet amid the vaccine rollout;
- Matt Hancock hailed Britain’s 15million Covid vaccine milestone but said there was ‘no rest for the wicked’ as England officially moves on to the next phase of its roll-out;
- Travel industry campaign group, called Save Our Summer, has demanded international travel is allowed to resume from May 1;
- Pub bosses dismissed proposals to allow customers in beer gardens only as ‘laughable’ and called on ministers to let them fully reopen their doors in April;
- MPs demanded ministers publish an assessment of the economic impact of different routes out of lockdown;
- Downing Street slapped down Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab after he suggested people could have to show vaccine passports before being allowed into shops and restaurants.
British businessman Wayne Kelly was warned he faces a £500 fine after landing at Heathrow today from a trip to Dubai without booking a quarantine hotel
A guest gives a thumbs down gesture to members of the media from the window of the Radisson Blu near Heathrow today
The Renaissance Hotel – which overlooks the Heathrow runway – is one of those open to quarantine travellers. Pictured is a graphic of some of the additions available for guests
Mr Kelly, from Birmingham, said: ‘I didn’t know what this is all about and I still don’t understand it. I came in from Dubai. I’ve now got a pay £1,750 to stay in a hotel.
‘And this letter they’ve given me says I could be fined another £500. I’m trying to work and make a living. It’s a terrible way to treat people.’
Mr Kelly, who works in property, claimed he hadn’t been reading the papers or watching TV and knew nothing of the new quarantine rules.
‘The first I realised I was going to be in this trouble was when I got off the plane,’ he said. ‘Now I’ve got this nightmare of being put into a hotel when I’ve actually got a home in Birmingham with my family.
‘I was in Dubai last month when I got back I quarantined at home with no problem. I should be allowed to do that again.’
‘This is just ridiculous. My wife was going to pick me up so I wouldn’t be mixing in public anyway. I don’t believe this is happening.
‘And if they’re starting to put us up in hotels now, why didn’t they do this last year? New Zealand and Australia and places like that have virtually beaten the virus. This is a little bit too late and too cruel if you ask me.’
Meanwhile, a Brazilian couple criticised the hotel quarantine system after revealing how they were mingling with other travellers not from ‘red list’ countries while flying back to London. Wagner Araujo, 43, arrived at Heathrow via Madrid with his wife Elaine, 40, following a trip to Brazil where they went to visit a sick relative.
After being escorted onto a coach at Heathrow to be taken to the nearby Radisson Blu hotel, where the couple will have to remain in quarantine for ten days, Mr Arajuo told MailOnline: ‘The system is ridiculous.
‘It doesn’t make sense. I was on the flight from Madrid surrounded by other passengers who were not from red list countries. How can that be safe and a good way to prevent coronavirus from spreading? We are all mixing on the plane and then I’m made to go into quarantine.’
The couple travelled to Brazil on January 11. They set off for their journey back to the UK from Sao Paulo last night and then had a two-hour stop-over in Madrid before boarding their London flight.
Mrs Araujo said: ‘There were mainly British people on the flight back from Madrid but lots of other nationalities. We were all in a queue together waiting to board the flight and were sitting right beside them.
33 ‘high-risk’ nations from which arriving travellers will have to quarantine in hotels
Angola
Argentina
Bolivia
Botswana
Brazil
Burundi
Cape Verde
Chile
Colombia
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ecuador
Eswatini
French Guiana
Guyana
Lesotho
Malawi
Mauritius
Mozambique
Namibia
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores)
Rwanda
Seychelles
South Africa
Suriname
Tanzania
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Uruguay
Venezuela
Zambia
Zimbabwe
‘While we were waiting to get off the plane, we were all in the same queue, shoulder to shoulder. What is the point of us going into quarantine now? It’s insane and I don’t understand it at all.’
Mr Araujo revealed that they were only separated from other passengers once they had disembarked the plane at Heathrow and were then sent to a special immigration counter for those arriving from red list countries.
After about an hour, he and his wife were escorted out of the terminal building and onto a waiting coach. Mr Araujo has lived in London for the past 20 years with his wife. He works as a removal man while she is a secretary.
He fumed that he did not have the money to pay for his quarantine hotel, which will cost him £3,500 for him and his wife and is also concerned about their four children, who did not travel to Brazil but remained with a relative in London.
The children are aged six, nine, ten and 17 are being looked after by an older cousin.
Mr Araujo said: ‘The company that I work for has been badly affected by the pandemic and business is really slow. I was able to book the hotel but fortunately, you don’t have to pay the money up front.
‘I don’t know how I’m going to find the money, it is a lot for me. I’m going to have to speak to the authorities because I can’t afford to pay for this hotel. Financially, things are very hard for me at the moment, as they are for a lot of people.
He added: ‘We’re also worried about our kids. We’ve been desperate to see them but now are going to have to wait even longer, because they won’t be able to visit us for the next ten days.
‘I realise that the Government needs to take as many precautions as it can, but I don’t think they’ve thought this system out very well. If you are going to make people quarantine, then it should be everybody who is coming from abroad.’
Roger Goncalves, 23, from Belo Horizonte in Brazil, was staying at the Radisson.
He said over the phone: ‘I’m feeling sad, it’s not good as I need to stay in the room for 10 days. I did my test for coronavirus. The test was negative. Why do I need to stay in my room for 10 days?’
Mr Goncalves, who lives in London and works as a delivery driver, said he had flown into the capital from Sao Paolo, via Madrid in Spain.
He said he was staying in his room with a friend called Andressa, while his uncle and aunt were in another room.
Roger Goncalves said the £1,750 cost of his stay was ‘too high’ and ‘crazy for 10 days’.
Asked about conditions in the hotel, he described his room as ‘not bad’ and said he had been told food will be left at his door.
He added: ‘The people in the hotel will give food to me for lunch and dinner, everything, but I can’t go out. That’s crazy.’
He said he arrived at the hotel on a bus carrying six people, which included those travelling with him.
Asked how he will spend the time in his room, Mr Goncalves said he would ‘watch TV, watch Netflix’.
He explained he had tried to fly back to the UK on February 11 but his airline had cancelled his flight.
Mr Goncalves said he thought about not travelling, but added: ‘I need to come back to work. I need to work.’
Roger Goncalves, 23, from Belo Horizonte in Brazil, was staying at the Radisson. He said over the phone: ‘I’m feeling sad, it’s not good as I need to stay in the room for 10 days. I did my test for coronavirus. The test was negative. Why do I need to stay in my room for 10 days?’
Passengers arriving at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 are escorted by security personal to buses this morning on their way to a hotel
Security escort passengers as they arrive at a hotel near London Heathrow Airport to begin a ten-day quarantine period
A coach delivers passengers to the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel, near Heathrow Airport, where dozens of quarantine guests will stay
A Brazilian couple criticised the hotel quarantine system after revealing how they were mingling with other travellers not from ‘red list’ countries while flying back to London. Wagner Araujo, 43, arrived at Heathrow via Madrid with his wife Elaine (pictured together), 40, following a trip to Brazil where they went to visit a sick relative
Foreign students arrive at Manchester airport today from a destination not on the red list, meaning they do not have to stay in a hotel
Security escort passengers as they arrive at a hotel near Heathrow today after returning from one of 33 ‘red list’ countries
Passengers arrive at Birmingham Airport today as the new hotel quarantine measures come into force
Drinks being unloaded at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel this afternoon following an influx of guests on the quarantine programme
Mr Araujo said that he and Elaine initially intended to return two weeks ago but their flights kept on getting cancelled. He added: ‘Our trip to Brazil was only meant to be a short one but our return flights kept on getting cancelled.
‘I’m not happy, but you have to do it’: First visitors to have to quarantine in hotels tell of their experiences
Fatima, who arrived from Dubai and was waiting for her baggage by the coach outside the Radisson Blu Edwardian told MailOnline: ‘I’m with my two children who are waiting inside the hotel.
‘We knew that we would have to quarantine and don’t have a problem with this. This is a lovely hotel and I think it will be a nice stay. I’m actually quite looking forward to it.’
Fatima revealed that her and her family were met off the plane by security staff and after clearing immigration they were placed on coaches. She added: ‘It took quite a long time but they’ve been looking after us very well.’
As she tried to continue speaking to MailOnline, security staff intervened ordering her not to say anything else. There are around six private security officials at the hotel and another two or three on each coach that arrived.
Fatima, from Dubai, pictured with her family
Roger Goncalves, 23, from Belo Horizonte in Brazil, was staying at the Radisson. He said over the phone: ‘I’m feeling sad, it’s not good as I need to stay in the room for 10 days. I did my test for coronavirus. The test was negative. Why do I need to stay in my room for 10 days?’
Roger Goncalves
British businessman Wayne Kelly was warned he faces a £500 fine after landing at Heathrow today from a trip to Dubai without booking a quarantine hotel.
He said he had ‘no idea’ about the new ten-day isolation rules for red list countries before he was handed a note by Border Force warning him to expect a fine for breaching Covid laws.
Mr Kelly, from Birmingham, said: ‘I didn’t know what this is all about and I still don’t understand it. I came in from Dubai. I’ve now got a pay £1,750 to stay in a hotel.
‘And this letter they’ve given me says I could be fined another £500. I’m trying to work and make a living. It’s a terrible way to treat people.’
One woman, who had flown in from Zambia and was staying at the Radisson, said: ‘I’m not happy, but you have to do it.’
One of the first Britons returning to the UK to enter the hotel quarantine programme, 24-year-old quantity surveyor Alex Green, pointed out a glaring flaw in the ‘isolation’ plan.
The quantity surveyor, who has been backpacking in South America since November, has pointed out a glaring flaw in the plan.
The 24-year-old will arrive home from Rio via Paris tomorrow, but on the second leg of his journey was in close proximity to other passengers starting from Paris, who will not then have to stay in a hotel.
‘It makes a bit of a nonsense of the whole thing really,’ he told MailOnline, ‘as anyone on my plane who is flying from Paris doesn’t have to be quarantined, despite being surrounded by connecting travellers from more exotic and covid-risky countries.’
Pria Mitchell lives in the UAE but her 16-year-old daughter, Jaya, is at sixth form college in the UK. She sent her home yesterday with a friend so she would not have to quarantine in a hotel alone.
‘There’s no way I’d send my 16-year-old to a hotel room globally anywhere, so the idea of putting her in a hotel room on her own was terrifying,’ she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
‘I can’t find any information on any government website on what I should be doing with an unaccompanied child.’
‘We tried to get on other flights before the hotel quarantine deadline but there was no availability. Now we’re going to be stuck in a room for ten days and it’s going to cost us a lot of money.’
One of the first Britons returning to the UK to enter the hotel quarantine programme, 24-year-old quantity surveyor Alex Green, pointed out what he felt was a glaring flaw in the ‘isolation’ plan.
Mr Green, who has been backpacking in South America since November, will fly home from Rio via Paris tonight, but on the second leg of his journey will be in close proximity to other passengers starting from Paris, who will not then have to stay in a hotel.
He said: ‘It makes a bit of a nonsense of the whole thing really as anyone on my plane who is flying from Paris doesn’t have to be quarantined, despite being surrounded by connecting travellers from more exotic and covid-risky countries.’
Mr Green, from Woodford Green, Essex, told MailOnline how his chaotic experience began last Thursday as thousands of travellers clamoured to access the Government’s website to book their hotels.
‘It didn’t start well. The website was due to go live at 3pm UK time, but immediately crashed and stayed closed for ‘maintenance’ for the next 27 hours whenever I tried to access it.’
Finally receiving his confirmation email, Mr Green learned he would be a ‘guest’ at the four-star Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel, with, as he put it: ‘an unrivalled view of Heathrow’s Northern Runway.’
The email read: ‘1 X QUARANTINE PACKAGE STANDARD….£1,750’, cash to be paid upfront with a refund only allowed if cancellation was more than 48 hours in advance.
Then he had to rapidly book a one-day Covid PCR test, knowing that if he failed, he would miss the 48-hour refund threshold for the hotel.
Thankfully he found a test, and was negative, so his unscheduled hotel incarceration under the stern gaze of security guards in the corridor of the Radisson will begin tomorrow morning.
Asked how he thought he’d deal with the isolation, he said: ‘It’s hard to tell, without much information to go on. Will I have to take up smoking just to be allowed outside?
‘I’ve heard rumours that there will be no cleaners allowed into the bedrooms or bathrooms, which will certainly rekindle memories of student days!
‘I’ve also read how the mountains of dirty plates piling up led to rodents in one of the Australian quarantine hotels, which I don’t much fancy.
‘As most people do when bored at home or in their room I plan to eat a lot, but at the price we’ve paid for this hotel you might expect five á la carte meals a day from Gordon Ramsay, but I fear the reality will be rather less enticing. ‘
He said other Britons he’d met abroad had either rushed to fly home before the hotel quarantine law came into force for ‘red list’ countries such as Brazil.
But he added: ‘I am possibly one of the few people relieved to be going to the hotel. The option of leaving Brazil earlier to isolate at home and putting my family at risk was never considered. Staying in a hotel for ten days is nothing compared to the losses faced due to this pandemic.’
Meanwhile a woman called Fatima, who arrived at Heathrow from Dubai with her two children, told MailOnline: ‘We knew that we would have to quarantine and don’t have a problem with this. This is a lovely hotel and I think it will be a nice stay.’
The mother revealed that she and her family were met off the plane by security staff and after clearing immigration they were placed on coaches. ‘It took quite a long time but they’ve been looking after us very well,’ she added.
As Fatima tried to continue speaking, security staff intervened ordering her not to say anything else. There are around six private security officials at the hotel and another two or three on each coach that arrived.
Another woman, who had flown in from Zambia, said: ‘I’m not happy, but you have to do it.’
A security official said : ‘We’ve had about ten guests so far and others are going to different hotels. We’re under strict instructions not to let them meet, speak or get close to other people so you’re going to have to leave the area.
Vincent Madden, managing director of Arora Hotels, which has opened the nearby Renaissance Hotel to quarantining travellers, today said staff would be introducing several new touches to make the long stay more bearable.
‘We’ve got crockery and cutlery in rooms so people can enjoy meals as they would at home,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
‘We’ve also got some high street branded shampoos, conditioners and body washes as well so again it’s a bit more homely and added a few touches like electronic newspapers, games and puzzles for people to do so there are some activities for people to do.’
A total of 16 hotels will accommodate guests arriving in England in the coming weeks, with the government reserving a total of 4,600 rooms.
Alongside the Radisson Blu passengers were also being taken to a Holiday Inn this morning.
Other venues involved include the Heathrow Renaissance Hotel, the Ibis Styles London Heathrow East hotel, Novotel Heathrow and the nearby three-star Thistle.
None of the hotels taking part in the quarantine scheme are believed to be taking other bookings.
A couple arrive at Birmingham Airport today as the new quarantine measures begin
A coach delivers passengers to the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel, near Heathrow Airport, where they will have to go into ten-day quarantine
Travellers getting off coach at the hotel, which offers spacious and airy rooms with large windows, Egyptian cotton linen and goose down pillows
Hotel guests look out of the window at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel, near Heathrow Airport, after arriving there this morning
Rooms at the Radisson Blu Edwardian near Heathrow usually cost around £150 a night. Superior rooms like the one pictured come with a Nespresso machine
Flights will have to arrive at five airports in England, which alongside Heathrow are Gatwick, London City, Birmingham or Farnborough in Hampshire. All international arrivals in Scotland will have to quarantine in hotels.
A spokesman for Farnborough Airport, which is mainly used by private jets, said all arrivals will be taken by G4S security to one of the Heathrow hotels, according to spokesman for Farnborough.
One of the first Britons returning to the UK to enter the hotel quarantine programme, 24-year-old quantity surveyor Alex Green, pointed out a glaring flaw in the quarantine plan.
In his confirmation email, Alex Green learned he would be a ‘guest’ at the four-star Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel, with, as he put it: ‘an unrivalled view of Heathrow’s Northern Runway’
Mr Green, who has been backpacking in South America since November, will arrive home from Rio via Paris tomorrow, but on the second leg of his journey will be in close proximity to other passengers starting from Paris, who will not then have to stay in a hotel.
‘It makes a bit of a nonsense of the whole thing really,’ he said, ‘as anyone on my plane who is flying from Paris doesn’t have to be quarantined, despite being surrounded by connecting travellers from more exotic and covid-risky countries.’
Mr Green, from Woodford Green, Essex, told MailOnline how his chaotic experience began last Thursday as thousands of travellers clamoured to access the government’s website to book their hotels.
‘It didn’t start well. The website was due to go live at 3pm UK time, but immediately crashed and stayed closed for ‘maintenance’ for the next 27 hours whenever I tried to access it.’
Finally receiving his confirmation email, Alex learned he would be a ‘guest’ at the 4-star Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel, with, as he put it: ‘an unrivalled view of Heathrow’s Northern Runway.’
The email read: ‘1 X QUARANTINE PACKAGE STANDARD….£1,750’, cash to be paid upfront with a refund only allowed if cancellation was more than 48 hours in advance.
Then he had to rapidly book a one-day covid PCR test, knowing that if he failed, he would miss the 48-hour refund threshold for the hotel.
Thankfully he found a test, and was negative, so his unscheduled hotel incarceration under the stern gaze of security guards in the corridor of the Radisson will begin tomorrow morning.
Asked how he thought he’d deal with the isolation, he said: ‘It’s hard to tell, without much information to go on. Will I have to take up smoking just to be allowed outside?
‘I’ve heard rumours that there will be no cleaners allowed into the bedrooms or bathrooms, which will certainly rekindle memories of student days!
‘I’ve also read how the mountains of dirty plates piling up led to rodents in one of the Australian quarantine hotels, which I don’t much fancy.’
Unions warn of ‘bedlam’ at the border amid fears guards lack powers to stop fleeing travellers
Air passengers arriving from 33 ‘red list’ countries will be forced to undergo an 11-night hotel quarantine in an attempt to clamp down on the spread of new coronavirus variants.
But immigration unions have repeatedly warned that officers have not been given key information about how the scheme is intended to work.
Unions said the Government had ‘failed at the first hurdle’ if it allowed passengers from high-risk countries to mix with other travellers and staff before they were taken to quarantine hotels.
The GMB union said its members and airport staff had raised fears that passengers from countries on the UK’s ‘red list’ were allowed to mix with others in passport queues and crowded arrivals halls.
The warning followed lengthy queues at passport control inside Heathrow last week as travellers scrambled to beat the quarantine deadline.
Passengers described scenes of ‘absolute Bedlam’ as they were forced to wait up to five hours at border control, and said social distancing was impossible in the crowded arrivals queue.
Nadine Houghton, of the GMB union, told The Observer: ‘If you’ve got people getting off planes from the red list countries, then being crammed into areas with passengers who aren’t going into quarantine – and staff as well – you’ve failed at the first hurdle.
‘Our members working at Heathrow Airport, the ground staff, security staff, have been raising concerns about this for two weeks now. Heathrow just isn’t safe at the moment.’
Unions also accused the Government of failing to provide border officials and quarantine hotel staff with sufficient protection to stop them from catching the virus.
The Immigration Services Union (ISU) has warned that its workers have not been given enough guidance about how to enforce the quarantine policy.
Spokeswoman Lucy Moreton said officers had not been told what they should do if travellers arrived at other airports, or refused to cooperate with quarantine arrangements.
Heathrow Airport has warned that there were still ‘significant gaps’ in the Government’s quarantine planning. Yesterday a spokeswoman said progress had been made to address several issues, but said the airport remained worried about queues at passport gates. She said: ‘Our key concern remains the ability of Border Force to cope. Queues at the border in recent days of almost five hours are totally unacceptable.
Asked how he thought he’d deal with the isolation, he said: ‘It’s hard to tell, without much information to go on. Will I have to take up smoking just to be allowed outside?
‘I’ve heard rumours that there will be no cleaners allowed into the bedrooms or bathrooms, which will certainly rekindle memories of student days!
‘I’ve also read how the mountains of dirty plates piling up led to rodents in one of the Australian quarantine hotels, which I don’t much fancy.
‘As most people do when bored at home or in their room I plan to eat a lot, but at the price we’ve paid for this hotel you might expect five á la carte meals a day from Gordon Ramsay, but I fear the reality will be rather less enticing. ‘
He said other Britons he’d met abroad had either rushed to fly home before the hotel quarantine law came into force for ‘red list’ countries such as Brazil.
But he added: ‘I am possibly one of the few people relieved to be going to the hotel.
‘The option of leaving Brazil earlier to isolate at home and putting my family at risk was never considered. Staying in a hotel for ten days is nothing compared to the losses faced due to this pandemic.’
Heathrow Airport today warned of long queues at Border Control and said there were no protocols in place to segregate passengers from the 33 high-risk countries from others despite the stringent quarantine measures being introduced.
It is feared the safety of up to 8,000 passengers a day could be compromised as airport staff carry out extra checks on those entering the country.
Union bosses warned the new system, which will see all passengers from the ‘red list’ countries having to quarantine for ten days in a hotel, will not be enough to stop the mutant variants from spreading.
Officials estimate that checks carried out to identify if a traveller has arrived from one of the Government’s ‘red list’ zones could double the standard time taken to 15 minutes per arrival.
A Heathrow spokesman told The Times: ‘Our key concern remains the ability of Border Force to cope.
‘Queues at the border in recent days of almost five hours are totally unacceptable.
‘Ministers need to ensure there is adequate resource and effective processes at the border to avoid compromising the safety of passengers and those working at the airport, which could necessitate the suspension of some arriving flights.’
The Immigration Services Union (ISU) today warned that its workers have not been given enough guidance about how to enforce the quarantine policy.
They said immigration officers had no power to stop travellers running away from airport terminals and had few powers to detain them at the border.
Extra police officers have been sent to Heathrow to support Border Force staff.
Speaking today, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the system has been operating ‘smoothly’ since it came into force at 4am today.
Chun Wong leaves Edinburgh Airport after entering the country on the first day that travellers flying directly into Scotland on international flights have to self-isolate for 10 days in a quarantine hotel room
The Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel is one of 16 hotels taking part in the scheme, which will see visitors charged £1,750 for a ten-day stay
A woman arriving at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel this morning. Ministers hope the new policy will help spot new variants spreading around the UK
An empty North Terminal at Gatwick Airport today. Commercial aviation has been battered by the impact of coronavirus
Sadly quarantining visitors will not be able to enjoy many of the facilities at the Radisson Blu Edwardian as they will have to stay in their rooms
A room in the Novotel London Heathrow Airport T1, T2 and T3 Hotel where passengers entering England from one of 33 ‘red list’ countries will stay during a 10 day quarantine period
The Novotel is one of 16 hotels being used for quarantining arrivals from the ‘high-risk’ countries under a new scheme starting today
Twin rooms come with a small window sofa, desk, safe and minibar. Guests will not be allowed to leave their rooms except for brief periods to get fresh air
The Novotel lobby, which has been recently refurbished. The hotel has 166 bedrooms and is less than a mile from the airport
Travellers arriving in the UK queue outside a Covid testing centre on the first day of the government’s hotel quarantine scheme. It is not clear if the people pictured will have to quarantine
Passengers arriving in the UK this morning queue outside a Covid test centre at Heathrow’s Terminal 2. Arrivals from red list countries will now have to quarantine. It is unclear if this applies to any of those pictured
Real Housewives of Cheshire star Dawn Ward – who has been in Dubai – posted an Instagram video yesterday with the caption ‘I’m coming home’
Q&A: Everything you need to know about the hotel quarantine scheme
What is the new policy?
Some international arrivals are required to quarantine in a hotel room for 10 days.
Who does this affect?
The rule applies to UK and Irish nationals, and UK residents, returning to the UK.
Does it matter which part of the UK I arrive in?
Yes. In Scotland the policy applies to all arrivals, but in England it is only relevant for those who have been in a country on the Government’s travel ban ‘red list’ in the past 10 days. There are no international flights arriving in Wales or Northern Ireland.
What is a ‘red list’ country
This is a list of 33 countries deemed at high risk of coronavirus variants, which includes all of South America, southern Africa, Portugal and the United Arab Emirates. The full list in on the Government’s website.
What about people are are not a UK or Irish national or a UK resident?
If they have been in a ‘red list’ country in the past 10 days they are banned from entering the UK.
What should I do before I return to England?
Travellers must take a coronavirus test and get a negative result in the three days before they travel. Those coming from a country on the Government’s banned list must book a ‘managed self-isolation package’ which includes a hotel, transport and testing.
Passengers will also be required to complete a passenger locator form with details of where they will quarantine on arrival. Those who provide false information on their locator form could face up to 10 years in prison.
How much does a stay at a quarantine hotel cost?
The Government’s quarantine package includes the cost of transport from the airport to the designated hotel, food, accommodation and testing.
A single adult will be charged £1,750 for one room for the duration of their stay, an additional £650 for anyone over the age of 12 and £325 for children aged between five and 12. There will be no additional fees for children under five.
What if I don’t book a quarantine hotel?
People face a fine of up to £4,000 for not booking a quarantine package, and will still have to pay for one on arrival.
Can I fly into any airport?
No. Those booked into a quarantine hotel can only fly into Heathrow, Gatwick, London City, Birmingham and Farnborough airports. Those with pre-existing bookings to a different port of entry must change it to one of the above. People who fail to do this face a fine of up to £10,000.
What happens when I arrive?
Travellers need to provide their passenger locator form, passport and a negative Covid-19 test result to Border Force staff.
They will then be transported to their quarantine hotel, with transport also arranged back to the airport at the end of their stay. Guests are required to quarantine in their hotel room for 10 days.
How many quarantine hotels are there?
The Government has struck deals with 16 hotels so far, providing 4,963 rooms for the new quarantine system, with a further 58,000 rooms currently on standby.
Will I be tested during my stay?
Guests need to take a Covid-19 test on or before day two of their stay, followed by another on or after day eight. Those who refuse to take a test will face a £2,000 fine, the Government said.
What happens if I test positive?
Those who test positive on day two must quarantine until day 12. People who return a positive result on day eight must stay until day 18.
When can I leave my quarantine hotel?
People will be able to leave after receiving a negative result from the Covid-19 test on day eight and have quarantined for a full 10 days.
What if I’m returning from a non-‘red list’ country?
Passengers must instead quarantine for 10 days at home and complete two Covid-19 tests on the second and eighth day after arriving.
Asked on Times Radio how quarantine hotel-bound passengers are being prevented from mixing with other arrivals in airports, Mr Hancock said: ‘All of this has been clearly set out, and I’m glad to say that, as of 6.30am when I got my latest update, this is working smoothly.
‘We’ve been working with the airports and the Border Force to make sure that everybody knows (how it works).
‘We have had to put this in place rapidly, I make no apologies for that, and we’ve been working with Heathrow and others.’
Pressed on how ‘red list’ passengers are being kept away from others, Mr Hancock added: ‘You go down a separate channel at the gates and, once you’ve been through the gates, which are manned by the Border Force, there is then a security operation supported by the police so that people are gathered, go and pick up their luggage and then go to the hotels.
‘So that’s all in train; there was a walkthrough of it yesterday and obviously it has been in place since four o’clock this morning.’
People required to enter the quarantine hotel programme must enter England or Scotland through a designated port and have pre-booked a package to stay at one of the Government’s managed facilities.
No international flights are operating to Wales or Northern Ireland.
All guests arriving in England will have to pay an individual fee of £1,750 and will have to eat airline-style food left at their door, change their own sheets and towels and be accompanied by security if they want fresh air or a cigarette outside.
Yesterday frantic travellers made a desperate dash to return to the UK before the stringent rules came into force.
Pria Mitchell lives in the UAE but her 16-year-old daughter, Jaya, is at sixth form college in the UK. She sent her home yesterday with a friend so she would not have to quarantine in a hotel alone.
‘There’s no way I’d send my 16-year-old to a hotel room globally anywhere, so the idea of putting her in a hotel room on her own was terrifying,’ she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
‘I can’t find any information on any government website on what I should be doing with an unaccompanied child.’
Real Housewives of Cheshire star Dawn Ward – who has been in Dubai – posted an Instagram video yesterday with the caption ‘I’m coming home’.
Stephanie Lvovich, 50, and her daughter Ava, 13, who flew into Heathrow Airport from Dubai, told The Sun: ‘We booked a flight as soon as we heard about the hotel quarantine.’
Meanwhile Tom Weston, 24, who arrived from Doha, Qatar, told the paper: ‘I’ve been very keen to get in. I wouldn’t cope well with two weeks in a hotel . . . and the expense.’
Ahead of the new rules being introduced, Meher Nawab, chief executive of the London Hotel Group, warned that many airport hotels rely on central air flow systems.
Pointing to Australia’s system – which is currently under review amid an outbreak linked to quarantine hotels – he warned such systems could increase the risk of the virus spreading between guests and hotel staff.
Mr Nawab also warned that airport hotels often use central air conditioning systems – rather than individual units – and sometimes have windows that cannot be opened.
Union chiefs meanwhile warned that the quarantine measures were not enough to prevent Covid variants spreading in the UK.
The GMB union, which represents hotel security and staff, also raised concerns about its members interacting with arrivals from ‘red listed’ countries which are included in the quarantine hotel scheme.
Nadine Houghton, GMB national officer, told The Observer: ‘If you’ve got people getting off planes from the red list countries, then being crammed into areas with passengers who aren’t going into quarantine – and staff as well – you’ve failed at the first hurdle.
‘Our members working at, the ground staff, security staff, have been raising concerns about this for two weeks now. Heathrow just isn’t safe at the moment.’
Despite the rising criticism Matt Hancock said: ‘As this deadly virus evolves, so must our defences.
‘The rules coming into force today will bolster the quarantine system and provide another layer of security against new variants at the border.’
This month analysis carried out by the World Health Organisation found dozens of countries where the highly infectious South African and Brazilian variants had been found were not on the list.
They included Austria, Denmark, France, Greece, Japan, Kenya, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada and the United States.
MailOnline understands that the 3-star Thistle Hotel at Heathrow could also be used as part of the scheme
A plane flies over the Renaissance Hotel near Heathrow Airport as it prepares to welcome travellers from the 33 ‘red list’ countries
The Ibis Styles London Heathrow East is set to welcome guests. It is seen last week with large medical bins outside
The majority of those required to quarantine will arrive at Heathrow, but bosses yesterday said there were ‘significant gaps’ about how the scheme would operate remain. Pictured: Novotel Hotel near Heathrow Airport which is being prepared for use as a Government-designated quarantine hotel
The four-star Radisson Blu Edwardian, Heathrow is one of the 16 venues taking part in the government hotel quarantine scheme
A traveller arrives at Heathrow Airport this morning after Britain introduced its quarantine programme for a number of ‘high-risk’ countries
Travellers may have be forced to queue for up to five hours as the Government’s quarantine hotels comes into force today. Pictured: Passengers arrive at Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport
A three-star Ibis will be among the hotels welcoming Heathrow arrivals as part of the government’s travel quarantine programme, MailOnline can reveal. Pictured is one of the twin bedrooms
Travellers won’t be able to enjoy the spacious bar and dining areas as they will be confined to their rooms for the entire 10-day stay, with airline food left at the door
The Ibis Styles London Heathrow East is owned by Accor, a French company that has the motto ‘live limitless’. Pictured: The desk area in one of the bedrooms
Reviews of the Thistle (left, and rodent trap outside right) have compared it to ‘Fawlty Towers’ and it has also been called ‘depressing’
Save our summer! Travel firms join forces and urge Boris Johnson to allow foreign breaks by May in bid to rescue tourism industry
Boris Johnson will come under pressure today from a newly-formed action group demanding that international travel resumes from May 1.
It comes amid claims that the Government has in effect declared war on the travel industry with its advice that no one should book a holiday either in Britain or overseas.
The new group, called Save Our Summer (SOS), is made up of UK travel companies whose total annual revenues came to more than £11billion before the Covid crisis.
It is demanding that the Prime Minister and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announce a clear timeline for the opening up of travel.
They want this to reflect the Government’s own projections that all the most vulnerable people in the UK should have received two doses of vaccine by early spring.
The group is supported by travel firms, which are guaranteeing that anyone booking through them will be entitled to either receive a refund or rebook their holiday if travel is cancelled or not possible due to Government Covid-19 restrictions.
They include Trailfinders, Easyjet Holidays, DialAFlight, Celebrity Cruises, Scott Dunn, Mr and Mrs Smith, Audley Travel, True Travel, Wild Frontiers, Elegant Resorts and Teletext Holidays. Henry Morley, chief executive of True Travel and co-founder of Save Our Summer, said: ‘The travel industry stands on the edge of a precipice. A minister’s job is to protect our industry, not destroy it.’
Mr Shapps was widely criticised after claiming last week that it was ‘illegal’ to book a holiday.
Labour Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds reacted with fury at the news, branding the Government’s quarantine measures ‘dangerously inadequate’.
While former Labour leader Ed Miliband told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: ‘At the moment the government is proposing a quarantine system that covers just five per cent of arrivals that happen each day in the UK.
‘That is not an effective quarantine system.’
It came as Jeane Freeman, the Scottish health secretary, said UK ministers’ refusal to help track arrivals who cross from England into Scotland was ‘deeply disappointing’.
Ms Freeman said she would go ahead with plans for checks at the border in Scotland after no agreement was reached in talks last Thursday.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also warned that police in Scotland could be asked to ‘do more than they’re doing right now’ to make sure travellers were not trying to cross the border.
Speaking at a coronavirus briefing, Ms Freeman said: ‘It’s deeply disappointing that as part of a family of equals, one partner isn’t prepared to help the other partner enforce the policy that they think is the right policy for the people they represent.
‘The discussions will continue, because we are, as we have always been, keen where we can to reach a four-nation approach to deal with a virus that doesn’t respect boundaries and borders.
‘But in the meantime, we will work through what the options are to mitigate where the UK government stance creates a loophole.
‘We can’t have people coming in, getting on public transport, coming to Scotland and we don’t know about that and they are not required to quarantine in way that we can’t manage so we have to consider what our options are about that land border.’
Boris Johnson will come under pressure today from a newly-formed action group demanding that international travel resumes from May 1.
It comes amid claims that the Government has in effect declared war on the travel industry with its advice that no one should book a holiday either in Britain or overseas.
The new group, called Save Our Summer (SOS), is made up of UK travel companies whose total annual revenues came to more than £11billion before the Covid crisis.
It is demanding that the Prime Minister and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announce a clear timeline for the opening up of travel.
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