LONDON (UK) – British ministers are slated to hold discussions on Monday on whether to tighten travel restrictions further, said a BBC report on Saturday, adding that those arriving in the country from abroad could be told to undergo quarantine in hotels.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson told a news conference on Friday that the UK may need to implement further measures to protect its borders from new variants of COVID-19.
Britain’s current restrictions ban most international travel while new rules introduced earlier in January require a negative coronavirus test before departure for most people arriving, as well as a period of quarantine.
The government is considering making it mandatory for travellers to spend that 10-day quarantine period in a hotel for which they would have to pay, as a way to enforce the quarantine rules, the BBC said.
Amid growing worries about new COVID-19 variants, critics of Britain’s current quarantine policy say it is not sufficiently enforced.
Stricter border rules would be a fresh blow for the aviation and travel sectors, already under great financial strain from close to a year of COVID-19 restrictions and minimal revenues.
In England, the 10-day quarantine requirement can be reduced if the traveller has a negative COVID-19 test after five days, while Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all have slightly different rules.