Holidaymakers returning to the UK from FCO 'safe' countries still told to quarantine for 14 days

Holidaymakers returning to the UK are being forced to quarantine for 14 days despite flying in from countries declared safe by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

Angry passengers have hit out at the Government’s “illogical” decision to lift its warning against non-essential travel to around 70 countries last Saturday but then to delay the ending of quarantine rules for people returning from those destinations until tomorrow.

It had been suggested by Government sources last week that those who returned to the UK after the FCO changed its advice would not need to self-isolate, or would only be required to do so until Friday.

That now appears to have been wrong. The Department for Transport (DfT) said today: “People returning to England before July 10 will be subject to the current legal requirement to self-isolate for the full two weeks.”

One passenger trapped in limbo described how he had flown in from Australia on Saturday after the FCO lifted the restrictions on non-essential travel but was now being told he had to quarantine until July 18, eight days after UK quarantine is lifted for 74 countries and territories including Australia.

“It seems completely illogical that I may have to self isolate until July 18 when a person who returns from Melbourne (which is currently under lockdown) today (Friday) will not have to self-isolate,” he told The Telegraph. “That can’t be right?

“The [Government] should have imposed quarantine/self isolation back in March. Now, it’s just a PR stunt. My family and friends in Australia think the UK’s response to the coronavirus has been a joke.

“On a related matter, on arrival at Heathrow I noticed several people with the completed contact locator forms in their hands go through the gates with their e-passports with nowhere to deposit their forms. I don’t think the Border Force were that interested.”