First 'red list' arrivals at Heathrow head straight into £1,750 hotel quarantine

15 February 2021, 08:37 | Updated: 15 February 2021, 10:41

People arriving in England from 33 coronavirus hotspots are now required to go into supervised quarantine.

People have to pay £1,750 to stay in government-designated hotels for 10 days, to try and stop new variants of Covid entering the UK.

The first passengers to book into quarantine hotels in England came through Heathrow arrivals shortly after 8am this morning. They had all been in a ‘red list’ country within the last 10 days.

A small group of passengers was met by security before being transported to a local hotel where they will spend 10 days in isolation in their rooms.

One woman, who had flown in from Zambia, said: "I'm not happy, but you have to do it."

On Saturday, Heathrow Airport said "significant gaps" remained in the hotel quarantine plan and a spokeswoman said they are yet to receive the "necessary reassurances" from the Government.

READ MORE: Quarantine hotels - all you need to know

One of the Heathrow Airport hotels taking part in the scheme is Novotel London Heathrow T1 T2 T3.

The hotel was charging £65 for members of the public staying on Sunday night, while travellers using it to quarantine from Monday must pay £1,750 for 10 days.

Heathrow quarantines people coming in from 33 high-risk countries

The Renaissance London Heathrow Hotel is also participating in the programme.

On Swarbrick On Sunday on LBC, Dominic Raab was asked about the idea of a domestic vaccine passport which people would need to show to go into a supermarket for example, and he said: "It's something that hasn't been ruled out. It's under consideration, but of course you've got to make it workable."

He added: "I'm not sure there's a foolproof answer in the way that sometimes it's presented, but of course we'll look at all the options."