Mandatory hotel quarantine to cost £1,750 for ten days

GingerTim

www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2021/feb/09/uk-covid-live-matt-hancock-coronavirus-latest-updates?CMP=share_btn_tw&page=with:block-6022823a8f08add48319362e#block-6022823a8f08add48319362e
For those arriving from countries on the 'red list', and includes hotel, transport, food, and testing. Evasion of quarantine punishable by a fine of up to £10,000, and a prison sentence of up to ten years. Depending on how long this stays in place, and if the 'red list' changes, holidays later in the year could get a bit more expensive!

GingerTim

Fuller details:

The hotel quarantine regulations

Hancock said:

We’re setting up a new system of hotel quarantine for UK and Irish residents who’ve been in red list countries in the last 10 days. In short, this means that any returning residents from these countries will have to quarantine in an assigned hotel room for 10 days from the time of arrival.

Before they travel, they’ll have to book through an online platform and pay for a quarantine package costing 1,750 for an individual travelling alone which includes the hotel, transport and testing. This booking system will go live on Thursday when we’ll also publish the full detailed guidance.

Passengers will only be able to enter the UK through a small number of ports that currently account for the vast majority of passenger arrivals. When they arrive, they’ll be escorted to a designated hotel which will be closed to guests who aren’t quarantining, for 10 days or for longer if they test positive for Covid-19 during their stay.

We’ve contracted 16 hotels for an initial 4,600 rooms and we will secure more as they are needed. People will need to remain in their rooms and of course will not be allowed to mix with other guests and there will be visible security in place to ensure compliance alongside necessary support, so even as we protect public health we can look after the people in our care.

The new testing regulations

Hancock said:

We’re strengthening testing. All passengers are already required to take a pre-departure test and cannot travel to this country if [the test] is positive.

From Monday, all international arrivals, whether under home quarantine or hotel quarantine, will be required by law to take further PCR tests on day two and day eight of that quarantine.

Passengers will have to book these tests through our online booking portal before they travel. Anyone planning to travel to the UK from Monday needs to book these tests and the online portal will go live on Thursday.

If either of these post-arrival tests comes back positive, they’ll have to quarantine for a further 10 days from the date of the test and will of course be offered any NHS treatment that’s necessary.

Any positive test will automatically undergo genomic sequencing to confirm whether they have a variant of concern.

The new fines and possible jail sentences for non-compliance

Hancock said:

People who flout these rules are putting us all at risk.

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.

Anyone who lies on the passenger locator form and tries to conceal that they’ve been in a country on the red list in the 10 days before arrival here will face a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

I make no apologies for the strength of these measures because we’re dealing with one of the strongest threats to our public health that we’ve faced as a nation.

epm-84

It's also been reported the government are paying hotels just £30 per person per day, so how does testing, transport and security cost £1470 per person?  Unless the government are transporting people back to the UK on private jets that cost is unjustifiable. 

10 years in prison is also stupid.  The maximum sentence for manslaughter is 10 years and that presumes you are found to have directly done something that resulted in the death of someone else.  How can they prove that someone skipping quarantine infected someone else and that it was done within 10 days of them arriving back in the UK from a red list country?

silvercar

The prison sentence is meant to be a deterrent. Of course it can’t be proved that you infected someone, but there is always the risk that you bring a new variant to the UK that indirectly causes the death of thousands.

silvercar

epm-84 said:

It's also been reported the government are paying hotels just £30 per person per day, so how does testing, transport and security cost £1470 per person?  Unless the government are transporting people back to the UK on private jets that cost is unjustifiable. 

Testing is going to include genome sequencing of any positive cases, I don’t know what it costs but it isn’t cheap. I can’t believe the £30 per person includes food.

epm-84

silvercar said:

epm-84 said:

It's also been reported the government are paying hotels just £30 per person per day, so how does testing, transport and security cost £1470 per person?  Unless the government are transporting people back to the UK on private jets that cost is unjustifiable. 

Testing is going to include genome sequencing of any positive cases, I don’t know what it costs but it isn’t cheap. I can’t believe the £30 per person includes food.

The source I've seen refers to the hotels getting £30pppn from the government for stays which they would normally get around £75pppn.  £45pppn B&B wouldn't be unheard of for a budget hotel near an airport, unless you booked last minute for a popular date.

I suppose it's probably the case that the government have booked all rooms for all dates, regardless of whether all rooms will be occupied, so a hotel with 100 rooms gets £3000 a night if the hotel's full and they also get £3000 if it's half empty.

Thrugelmir

epm-84 said:

silvercar said:

epm-84 said:

It's also been reported the government are paying hotels just £30 per person per day, so how does testing, transport and security cost £1470 per person?  Unless the government are transporting people back to the UK on private jets that cost is unjustifiable. 

Testing is going to include genome sequencing of any positive cases, I don’t know what it costs but it isn’t cheap. I can’t believe the £30 per person includes food.

The source I've seen refers to the hotels getting £30pppn from the government for stays which they would get £75pppn.  £45pppn B&B wouldn't be unheard of for a budget hotel near an airport, unless you booked last minute for a popular date.

I suppose it's probably the case that the government have booked all rooms for all dates, regardless of whether all rooms will be occupied, so a hotel with 100 rooms gets £3000 a night if the hotel's full and they also get £3000 if it's half empty.

The Government will be in effect renting the hotels in their entirety.  

A_Lert

So far there's been no statement of when payment is expected? If payment in advance is demanded that will effectively strand anyone unable to afford it. Australia bills people at the end of the quarantine period.

Thrugelmir

A_Lert said:

So far there's been no statement of when payment is expected? If payment in advance is demanded that will effectively strand anyone unable to afford it. Australia bills people at the end of the quarantine period.

Been plenty of time to return home if somebody so wished. At a point a line has to be drawn. Australia still has some 30,000 people that have been excluded since last March to repatriate. As there's only limited entry per week. 

wannabe_a_saver

Thrugelmir said:

A_Lert said:

So far there's been no statement of when payment is expected? If payment in advance is demanded that will effectively strand anyone unable to afford it. Australia bills people at the end of the quarantine period.

Been plenty of time to return home if somebody so wished. At a point a line has to be drawn. 

It’s not always that simple, people have jobs, lives, responsibilities abroad but often no right to stay in that country if/when their employment contract ends. 

I do agree with the hotel quarantine plans, but I think for returning citizens/residents there should be a way to pay in instalments after the quarantine.

D_P_Dance

Some years ago I stayed at The Sheraton near Heathrow.  It was OK, but very ordinary.  Certainly, given its location, not worth more than £80 - £100 a night imo.