Saturday, 20 Apr 2024

Priti Patel orders 10,000 Covid checks per day on Britons returning from holiday

Matt Hancock announces trial of coronavirus booster vaccines

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Currently, those returning from orange zone nations are expected to quarantine at home for ten days when they get back. They must also record two negative Covid-19 tests during this time.

Those who fail to comply face a fine of up to £10,000.

To ensure the rules are followed the Government wants track-and-trace officials to conduct 10,000 checks per day on those who’ve recently returned to the country.

If regulations are being broken the officials will be able to call police officers to issue a fine.

The Government lifted the ban on foreign holidays on Monday.

However, only green zone countries can be visited without a requirement to quarantine on return to the UK.

There are only a small number of nations in this category and several are not admitting foreign tourists.

The most dangerous countries have been placed in the red zone, meaning mandated hotel quarantine is required when you return.

Ask if those returning from orange zone countries should expect home visits on their return Priti Patel replied: “Yes, people should.”

Speaking to the Daily Mail she added: “There is a service, provision is in place, capacity has been increased for that very reason. People will not go unchecked.

“Significant resources have been put in place – millions of pounds – in terms of the follow-up checking of people around their testing and making sure they stay at home. It has been stepped up.”

On Wednesday Boris Johnson told MPs Britons should only travel to amber list countries under “extreme circumstances”.

But as many as 1,300 flights are scheduled between these nations and the UK between now and Sunday.

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The Government is attempting to slow the spread of the Indian coronavirus variant which they fear is significantly more infections.

Whilst there is no evidence it can bypass vaccines the concern is a significant proportion of the country have yet to receive their first jab.

Currently, Portugal, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Singapore and a number of small British Overseas Territories are on the Green list.

A number of those, including New Zealand and Australia, are not currently permitting foreign tourists.

Speaking to the Daily Mail a Home Office insider claimed 7,000 home checks were conducted by test and trace workers on Tuesday.

However former Brexit secretary David Davis raised concerns about the plans.

He said: “The difficulty is that when the message is confused, and it couldn’t be more confused in this case, people don’t pay attention.

“It’s the worst of all worlds – it damages the economy, and people are too scared to go away.

“It’ll be just as effective as the last test and trace.”

Appearing on ITV’s Peston show Professor Ferguson, a coronavirus advisor to the Government, admitted the success of home isolation has been “much lower than we might have hoped”.
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