Spain and the United States could be the latest additions to the red list’ of countries
where travelers have to quarantine in hotels.
Officials are said to be considering expanding the list of countries where travelers must
forcibly isolate in a Government-approved hotel on arrival to the UK.
The latest data on the risk of new variants from Spain and the United States could be
added to UK hotel quarantine ‘red list, and will be scrutinized
before ministers at the Cabinet Covid Operations Committee decide this week if they
should go on the list.
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Both nations have had local transmission of new variants and are geographically linked
to places, such as Portugal in Spain’s case, already subject to UK foreign travel bans.
The new measure aimed at tackling the spread of new variants of coronavirus came into force this week.
It means UK nationals or residents returning from 33 “red list” countries – made up of
hotspots with Covid-19 variants in circulation – are required to quarantine in hotels for 10 days.
NSL Learnt that a Department of Health and Social Care spokesman
said: “If more countries are added to the ‘red list’, and passenger numbers from ‘red list’
countries start to increase, then we are prepared to put in place managed quarantine
facilities at the required airports.
