Travellers face a jail sentence of up to 10 years if they try to hide a trip to a ‘red zone’ country, as ministers tighten borders to prevent the spread of new strains of coronavirus.
All international arrivals to the UK will also have to take two coronavirus tests from next week, health secretary Matt Hancock has announced.
He repeated his claim that the UK is “turning a corner” in the battle against the global pandemic.
But he warned that ministers “must protect this hard fought progress”.
“Everyone has a part to play in making our borders safe”, Mr Hancock told the Commons, a process that was crucial to “securely” restart travel in the future he said.
From Monday UK nationals arriving from 33 “red list” countries will be required to spend 10 days in a Government-designated hotel, where they will be charged £1,750 for their stay, Mr Hancock said. Those who lie on their passenger locator forms about where they have been in a bid to conceal a visit to a ‘red zone’ country face up to 10 years in jail, he added. Ministers have signed contracts with 16 hotels for the programme, which will see ‘visible security’ at hotels.
Passengers will have to stay in their hotel room during their quarantine. Mr Hancock also confirmed a new “enhanced” testing regime for all international travellers, which will also come into force on Monday.
Those isolating at home, instead of in a hotel, must get a test two and eight days into their 10-day quarantine period, he said. He told MPs: “People who flout these rules are putting us all at risk”. Part of the burden for ensuring the rules are kept would fall on the travel industry, he added.
“Passenger carriers will have a duty in law to make sure that passengers have signed up for these new arrangements before they travel, and will be fined if they don’t, and we will be putting in place tough fines for people who don’t comply.
“This includes a £1,000 penalty for any international arrival who fails to take a mandatory test, a £2,000 penalty for any international arrival who fails to take the second mandatory test, as well as automatically extending their quarantine period to 14 days, and a £5,000 fixed penalty notice – rising to £10,000 – for arrivals who fail to quarantine in a designated hotel.”
