The UK government announced that travellers from a “red list” of 33 countries coming into the UK will be required to quarantine in hotels, in a measure similar to what other countries such as Australia have adopted.
Boris Johnson had already mooted the idea in January, saying that “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.”
The measure would see travellers arriving from the listed countries met at the airport or point of entry and taken to designated Covid hotels, where they would have to stay for 10 days, after which they would be allowed to leave after testing negative for the virus. Among the listed countries are South American and African countries and one EU member, Portugal, due to its links to Brazil.
Guests will have to stay in their rooms for 10 nights, with security guards accompanying if they go outside, and should be provided 3 meals per day. It is understood that hotels located near airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, London City, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen are most likely to be used, and travellers are expected to cover the cost. Over 1,000 new quarantine guests are expected to arrive every day.
The lack of planning for the new policy has been criticised for its delay and lack of planning. Rob Paterson, CEO of Best Western hotels UK, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday “We’re yet to understand exactly what the protocols are required of the hotels. We’ve set out a set of protocols, we’ve shared that information, and we’ve offered our support and we’re yet to hear anything”. He added “other than very broad information about what timings they’re thinking about and who is handling it, we haven’t had any discussions at all. We’ve offered that help, we’ve got a lot of experience managing COVID-positive environments through the project we do with the NHS, and we’re just simply kept in the dark”. Commenting on the costs, Paterson said that was part of the challenge: “if you take a hotel that’s currently closed, it’s a big expense so hoteliers are only going to open that hotel if there is a business need. We need some assurance that there will be demand and once [guests] turn up we need to understand the pricing, and what security protocols are needed”. On the potential risks associated with the scheme, Paterson added “Insurers are a bit nervous about this, and we need to understand from the government who would underwrite that”.
Meher Nawab, CEO of London Hotel Group, said on radio station LBC: “There is clearly a lack of dialogue between the government and the industry. The hospitality industry has a lot to offer [but] it isn’t a 5-10 minute job to open a hotel and to get all the risk assessments and processes in place, there is a lot of work to be done behind it”. Asked about what impact the quarantine hotel policy would have on the hospitality sector, Nawab said “we’ve got to curb this virus coming into the country, and if this means opening quarantine hotels with strict policies it’s a wonderful idea. The hospitality sector has been closed for virtually nine months so this is a good opportunity to get that up and running but everything has to run on strict protocol”. London Hotel Group operates among others the Best Western Plus Aparthotel in Croydon, which opened in early January as the UK’s first COVID isolation hotel.
Vaccines deployment Minister Nadhim Zahawai said that "next week the Secretary of State for health will be setting out the operational elements of this policy. It is one part of a much bigger border policy." Foreign office minister James Cleverly also defended the hotel quarantine plans and explained the delay in implementation until the 15th of February was to give “the hotel industry notice to give them time to prepare, train staff and to get their rooms ready."