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Hotel quarantine: How do I book a room?

 (Simon Calder)
(Simon Calder)

Hotel quarantine, as used since last March in Asia and Australasia, has begun in the UK.

Travellers from "red list" countries must pay £1,750 for a 11-night/12-day stay – though rates for additional people sharing a room are considerably lower.

For a single traveller the price works out at £159 per night.

Heavy penalties apply to anyone who misrepresents where they have visited or who fails to go into hotel quarantine when they should.

These are the key questions and answers.

What are the new UK restrictions?

Quarantine is currently mandatory for all overseas arrivals except for those from Ireland. Since 18 January, the government has insisted that each arriving traveller presents a negative test for coronavirus that has been taken within three days of departure (or longer if an en route stop is involved).

The government has now imposed mandatory hotel quarantine for arrivals from the countries on the government’s “red list" – currently numbering 33. The aim is to limit the spread of new variants of coronavirus.

These nations, mostly in southern Africa and South America, are currently subject to a ban on direct flights, but UK and Irish citizens and residents are free to come back by alternative routes.

Read more: How is the 'red list' decided?

Direct flights are not allowed from 14 African nations (Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe).

Flights from three island nations off the coast of Africa – Cape Verde, Mauritius and the Seychelles – have been banned. In normal times they are popular holiday destinations with direct flights from the UK.

The entire continent of South America, as well as Panama, is on the list – adding another 14 countries.

The most significant nation, though, in terms of British visitors and expatriates, is Portugal. At present it is the only European country subject to a flight ban.

British and Irish citizens, as well as third-country nationals with residential rights in the UK, can come in whenever they like but must follow the rules.

Currently that means self-isolating along with their households for 10 days. But from 15 February they will be taken to what the government calls "managed quarantine facilities" for 11 nights – meaning that 12 days will be affected.

An arrival on 1 March would be expected to stay up to and including 11 March. They could leave from 0.01am on 12 March, the 12th day after arrival.

Anyone required to stay in a quarantine hotel can arrive in England only at Heathrow, Gatwick, London City or Birmingham airports, or the private aviation airfield at Farnborough in Hampshire.

Notable omissions from the list include Manchester airport, currently the second-busiest in the UK after Heathrow, the port of Dover, the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone and the Eurostar hub at London St Pancras International.

The government says: "It’s your responsibility to change it to one of the ports of entry specified above.

"Carriers will not be permitted to carry anyone who has been in a red list country in the previous 10 days to any other port of entry other than those specified."

How does hotel quarantine work?

Travellers self-identify in advance. Everyone from the red list countries must pre-book a room through a dedicated online portal, at a cost of £1,750.

The price includes transport from the airport to the “government-approved facility” (the hotel), three meals a day, security and testing. During the stay “quarantinees” will undergo two Covid tests: one on day two, the next on day eight. Those who test positive are likely to have their stay extended, unless hospital treatment is needed.

The cost for additional people in the same room is significantly less than the rate. A second adult pays £650, and £325 for a child aged 5-12. Over 12s are counted as adults, under fives are free.

Because direct flights from red list locations are banned, passengers are arriving from a wide range of intermediate locations – for example via Madrid from Latin America.

Every arriving traveller must complete a passenger locator form in which they reveal to UK Border Force the countries they have been to in the past 10 days.

Failure to disclose relevant travel history could lead to a prison sentence of 10 years under the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981. The precise offence is "to use an instrument which is ... false, with the intention of inducing somebody to accept it as genuine, and by reason of so accepting it to do or not to do some act".

UK border officials are inspecting passports for evidence and ask to see boarding passes and travel itineraries.

Passengers obliged to undergo hotel quarantine are escorted through the airport, including a health-screening process, and taken to a nearby hotel.

The hotels are exclusively for the use of quarantining travellers.

The English government says it may be possible "to exercise but only with special permission from hotel staff or security". But travellers are told: "This is not guaranteed."

What if I can't pay?

"For those facing significant financial hardship as a result of this charge, there will be an opportunity to apply for a deferred repayment plan when booking." the government says.

"This is only available for individuals who already receive income-related benefits, and you will be required to pay back your debt to the government in 12 monthly instalments."

Scotland is setting up a "welfare fund" for people who cannot pay.

Plans to charge appear to contravene Article 40 of the World Health Organisation (WHO) International Health Regulations, which says: "No charge shall be made [for] appropriate isolation or quarantine requirements of travellers."

Can I get a drink?

Yes, at normal room-service prices. Deliveries of alcohol to the hotel will also be possible.

I’ve had both vaccinations. Can I skip hotel quarantine?

No. Your Covid-19 status is of no relevance as far as the hotel quarantine system is concerned. So whether you have had the jab or have successfully recovered from the virus, you will still need to follow the rules.

Can the red list be expanded?

Yes. It is possible that significant new countries could be added to the list. If Spain were included, for example, hundreds of thousands of people could be affected. But conversely it is possible that Portugal, the UAE or South Africa could be removed.

Are there enough hotels to go around?

Yes. The UK government has contracted 4,600 rooms in 16 hotels, with more available if necessary.

Heathrow, the main access point to the UK, is surrounded by hotels, almost all of which are near-empty or closed due to lack of custom.

Other airports also have plenty of hotel capacity, with occupancy typically down to single-figure percentages.

Can I choose my hotel?

No, and neither are you able to choose your room. Some of them are really quite small, as I found on my one-night stay.

What will I do all day?

Visits to people in quarantine are allowed only if they are providing emergency assistance, personal care, veterinary services (though only guide dogs are allowed) or "certain critical public services."

Two weeks with few distractions could provide the ideal opportunity to learn a new language.

Or you could talk to the media; s@hols.tv or @Simon Calder on Twitter will find me.

An opportunity for quarantinees to exercise (or smoke) is not guaranteed. Exercise is possible "only with special permission from hotel staff or security," travellers are told, and warned: "This is not guaranteed"

The Australian government, which has nearly a year's experience of hotel quarantine, advises its detainees: "Bring physical books or download movies ahead of time in case there are issues with the hotel wifi."

The New Zealand government tells quarantinees: "There is high public interest in the managed isolation and quarantine facilities. Media might contact you and it is your choice whether you talk to them.

"Please remember journalists cannot enter the hotel. If you agree to an interview, you will need to use remote options such as phone or video calling."

What is Scotland doing differently?

The first minister has introduced “managed quarantine for anyone who arrives directly into Scotland, no matter which country they are coming from”.

Even with the current number of international arrivals, the impact is likely to be minimal. Almost all flights from overseas to Scotland have ended, with a handful from Norway to Aberdeen, and and Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines to Edinburgh.

As travellers who arrive in Scotland from England or Ireland from non-red list countries avoid hotel quarantine, passenger numbers on nonstop flights to Scotland are expected to collapse from the 730 per week at the start of February.

When might hotel quarantine end?

That is unclear, and the government will not give a definite date. But the travel industry is desperate for an end point and hopes it will end before the summer charter season starts on 1 May.

Previous policies whose efficacy is regarded as marginal at best have been eased much sooner; blanket quarantine lasted only 33 days after it was introduced on 8 June 2020.

A spokesperson for the travel trade association, Abta, said: “The introduction of quarantine hotels for ‘red list countries’ builds on a mountain of existing measures for travel, and we need to see a clear plan for how these will be lifted.

"Jobs are being lost at an alarming rate and longstanding businesses have gone to the wall. The lack of financial support targeted at addressing the consequences for businesses of international travel restrictions needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.”

Why not just close the airports?

UK airports could be mandated to close to passenger traffic by the government. But it would cause immense problems for the very few people who are travelling at the moment, and ultimately is unlikely to do any good.

The transport secretary has revealed earlier that only one in 1,000 of the coronavirus cases in England in December was brought in from abroad – and that was a month with plenty of people travelling, including 1.1 million through Heathrow.

A brief history of quarantine

The home secretary has told parliament: "From January 2020, the government have had a comprehensive strategy for public health measures at the border.”

Early in 2020, the UK imposed quarantine measures aimed at preventing the spread of the virus from known hotspots including China, Iran and northern Italy. On 13 March 2020 these measures ended.

The government said there was no point in continuing to insist on self-isolation because coronavirus was widespread in the UK.

Two days later, Australia’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, imposed two weeks of self-isolation on arrivals from all countries. By the end of March, the law had been strengthened to make “hotel quarantine” mandatory. The measure was announced on 27 March and took effect the next day.

Three months later, on 8 June 2020, the UK government made a U-turn, going from no quarantine to quarantine from everywhere, with 14 days of self-isolation required.

A month after that, the concept of “travel corridors” took effect, allowing journeys from most European countries without self-isolation. But by late July Spain had lost exemption, and in the months since then most popular destinations have also had quarantine-free status removed.

In December, the time required for quarantine was reduced from 14 to 10 days, and in England “test to release” was brought in – allowing self-isolation to be halved for those who received a negative test result on day five.

On 18 January 2021, all quarantine exemptions were removed.

On 15 February, hotel quarantine was introduced – along with extended testing requirements.

Surely no one should be travelling out from the UK?

Under current lockdown rules, no leisure travel is allowed for anyone living in the UK.

Under proposed new measures, airlines, ferry firms and train operators will have to ask passengers departing from the UK the purpose of their journey – and turn away people who don't appear to qualify for going abroad (eg work, education, medical treatment and essential family reasons).

Clive Wratten, chief executive of the Business Travel Association, said: “Placing the burden of proof for the validity of travel onto international carriers is an untenable situation for companies and staff that are already at breaking point.”

So who is coming home?

Many UK citizens and residents are currently abroad for legitimate reasons and will return home in due course.

Some of the people who are coming in now will have left the country before the third lockdown started in January and have been on long-stay trips – whether holidays or staying with family or partners they had not seen for months.

People who have been staying in a second property abroad are at liberty to return.

Some arrivals are travelling home to the UK for compassionate reasons, for example if a member of their family is dangerously ill.

A few “lost souls” are still returning to their families and homes in the UK after spending time abroad – often prolonged by lockdown measures in the location in which they were staying.

There are also some people from Commonwealth countries coming in on ancestry visas (on the basis that one grandparent was born in the UK) and family visas.

Business travel is continuing, mainly comprising professionals working in specialist fields such as medicine, media or the oil industry, or people attending job interviews.

Some business leaders running multinational concerns are travelling, but there are very few executives visiting customers or suppliers.

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