Quarantine hotels are under 'active consideration' by Government, minister says
25 January 2021, 11:50
Quarantine hotels are under 'active consideration' by Government
A Minister has told LBC the Government is actively considering bringing in quarantine hotels for those entering the UK.
Travellers entering the UK could end up being bussed from the airport to hotels around the country amid a Cabinet row over whether compulsory quarantine should be enforced at the border.
Ministers are meeting this week to decide whether to toughen up border restrictions - like introducing "Covid hotels" for mandatory quarantine.
Speaking to LBC's Nick Ferrari one Government Minister said officials were actively considering bringing in quarantine hotels for those entering the UK.
Work and Pensions Secretary Thérèse Coffey said the Government had continued to "step up" measures around international travel.
She told LBC the matters were "under active consideration."
Senior ministers are due to meet on Tuesday to discuss a proposal to require travellers arriving in the UK to pay to quarantine at a designated hotel to ensure they are following the rules on self-isolating.
Mr Johnson said: "We have to realise there is at least the theoretical risk of a new variant that is a vaccine-busting variant coming in, we've got to be able to keep that under control."
He said "that idea of looking at hotels is certainly one thing we're actively now working on".
"We need a solution that gives us the maximum possible protection against reinfection from abroad."
