Visitors to the UK from countries like Spain should not only show a “negative” PCR performed in the last 72 hours, but undergo two other consecutive Covid tests on the second and eighth days after arrival, and isolate themselves for a total of ten days, regardless of the results of the tests.
Spaniards, or Britons from Spain, can in any case be considered lucky compared to Portugal, Brazil or South Africa. Visitors from the 33 countries on the “red list” will be isolated for 10 days in hotels on arrival and will have to pay the equivalent of 2,000 euros for medical tests, transfer and stay behind closed doors (which could be prolonged another 10 days if they test positive).
Up to here the restrictions announced by the Secretary of Health Matt Hancock, which assured that “border control” will from now on be an absolute priority due to the risk of the appearance of “worrying variants” of the Coronavirus. The “Australian” measures to be implemented by the United Kingdom from February 15 are among the most severe in Europe, having lagged behind for much of the pandemic.
“I am not going to apologize for the introduction of these measures,” stressed Hancock, who anticipated fines of 1,100 euros “for not taking the mandatory Covid tests” (you will have to register “online” before taking the flight) and 11,000 euros for violating the quarantine in hotel rooms. The Health Secretary warned that passengers who lie about their place of origin could face sentences of up to 10 years in jail.
Hancock did not specify how long the measures will be in effect. At the moment, 4,600 rooms will be available in 16 hotels, although the capacity could be expanded, just as there will possibly be new countries joining the “red list”.
“We would like to get out of this situation as soon as practicable,” stressed the Secretary of Health, who confirmed that Covid cases have fallen 47% in the last two weeks, although the number of deaths is already 113,000 and the total infected is close to four million. More than 12 million Britons have been vaccinated to date.
The conservative Huw Merriman put on the table the confusion that up to now there has been about the restrictions on entry into the country and that will continue to exist in his opinion with the new rules: “If someone tests negative on the fifth day, will they be able to to interact with your community and will have to take another test on the eighth day, and maybe go back to quarantine? ”
Labor Stepen Doughty openly questioned “the logic” used for the new system and the criteria to include countries such as the United Arab Emirates (with less than a thousand deaths from Covid and more than 20% of the vaccinated population) or Central African nations with an incidence much lower than the UK.
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