BORIS Johnson could scrap the entire list of safe, quarantine-free holiday destinations if cases of coronavirus continue to grow, it was claimed today.
If the spike in infections carries on creeping up both at home and abroad, the PM is ready to declare that anyone coming into the country has to quarantine for 14 days, The Times reported.
This would take Britain back to the same position as when the quarantine rules were first slapped on to travellers from June 8 onwards.
Anyone coming into the country – no matter where they were coming from – may be told they must isolate for two weeks at home or face a £1000 fine.
The move would threaten millions of holidays and throw the travel industry into chaos once again.
But a senior Government source said of the reports: “There are no plans to change the approach on air bridges/quarantine.”
It came as:
- The Government advice on working from changed from today – meaning employers can ask their staff to come into the office
- Rishi Sunak launched his ‘Eat out to help out scheme’ giving Brits up to half price meals and help the hospitality sector
- A new 90-minute coronavirus test was rolled out to help people get their tests faster – and it could play a part in getting kids back to school
The Government has repeatedly stressed it could take countries off the safe list at short notice – as it did with Spain and Luxembourg – forcing people returning to isolate to stop the spread.
However, it’s not known whether the PM could scrap the entire safe list and return to strict quarantines for all.
But Boris has shown he wants to act quickly to fight flare-ups of the virus to prevent a damning second wave.
Last week he announced a last-minute partial lockdown in the North East of England after a spike in cases there in recent weeks.
People can no longer visit the homes or gardens of friends and family in an attempt to stop it from spreading further.
Ministers have repeatedly warned that measures could be reimposed in parts of the country to stop more people catching the killer virus.
Earlier this morning Nadhim Zahawi refused to rule out the prospect of travel bans between lockdown areas and outside them.
At the moment people living in lockdown areas are still allowed to leave – but they must not get in close contact with other households or visit other people’s homes.
He said: “If we see the virus spreading in a particular way in London, as we‘ve seen in Manchester and West Yorkshire, where it’s spreading through people coming into another person’s home and that’s the way it’s spread, then we will discuss that with the police and we will not hesitate to act.”
