UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced the strictest sanctions yet for anyone looking to evade new travel restrictions that will come into force on February 15.
Arrivals from the 33 countries on the government’s ‘red list’ – including South Africa, Portugal and most of South America – will have to isolate for 10 days in a government-sanctioned hotel – at a cost of £1,750, including transport and testing. UK and Irish nationals returning from red list countries will also have to comply.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Matt Hancock also announced a raft of tough deterrents for anyone trying to evade the restrictions, including fines of up to £10,000 for avoiding mandatory hotel quarantining and up to 10 years in prison for lying on passenger locator forms.
Although the Irish government has yet to announce details of its own hotel quarantine scheme, Hancock also said that the UK government was working with Dublin as well as the devolved governments in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff to establish “similarly tough” sanctions.
Matt Hancock announces new border measures to protect England from new Covid variants, including a £1,750 fee to stay in hotel quarantine, fines of up to £10,000 for avoiding hotel quarantine, and prison sentences of up to 10 years for lying on passenger locator forms. pic.twitter.com/k1YuC4HIfs
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) February 9, 2021
