Mandatory hotel quarantine in the UK

[Circumlocutious]

There was the New Zealand thread which touched on this, but I thought it’s helpful to have a more targeted discussion. Mandatory hotel quarantine for all UK arrivals, likely to be signed off on tomorrow.

Twitter thread from FT journalist discussing some of the complex aspects involved:

mobile.twitter.com/SebastianEPayne/status/1353657496716660737

Do you think it’ll ‘work’? (presumably its main purpose is to stop new covid variants from coming in). Why / why not?

Australia probably doesn't have an long exemption list that the UK will likely have

Australia's exemption list is here, LovingBob ... it's not exactly short either, so there's every chance of variants arriving there too

covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au/travel-restrictions

It's good news for air pollution

My brother lives in a country that has had it since their lockdown ended and they have been covid free since the spring. They should have done it here from the start though. Just another shambolic response from our government

Australia's exemption list is here, LovingBob ... it's not exactly short either, so there's every chance of variants arriving there too

This just means you are allowed to enter the country. It’s not a quarantine exemption.

And yes, new covid cases turn up every day at the borders. These recently have included the U.K. variant

@nolongersurprised

Australia's exemption list is here, LovingBob ... it's not exactly short either, so there's every chance of variants arriving there too

This just means you are allowed to enter the country. It’s not a quarantine exemption.

And yes, new covid cases turn up every day at the borders. These recently have included the U.K. variant

Yes I thought that re lust too

Who is exempt? Anyone at all

List

@stealthbanana

Really loving this. Will make it doubly impossible to ever see my family again in Australia without quitting my job as will be 4 weeks of hotel quarantine at £5k with 2 toddlers before I actually get any time with said family.

Just want to cry.

Me too. I am not sure what I am going to do as I really, really need to see my family. I am just full of despair at the moment.

I think this is more to make people happy politically and to prevent new strains coming in

The issue isn’t the new cases, it’s the old people getting it. Average age of those dying is 82. The hospitals are predominantly full of elderly and vulnerable Covid patients, and rhe ones dying, as said, are on average 82 years old. The average death age is actually 81

But it stops new strains and that’s important.

Sorry, yes - I see what you mean about the difference between permitted entry and supervised quarantine. Here goes on the second issue, where there are also plenty of exemptions: www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/coronavirus-covid-19-restrictions/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-international-travellers

However it also seems to help if you're someone like Matt Damon or Miranda Kerr: www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-21/australia-hotel-quarantine-exemptions-rules-reasons-process/13078830

All those people saying it's impossible. Many countries have been doing it for nearly a year now.

The UK has one of the worst death rates of any country in the world.

Yes maybe a year later is a bit late to be considering these kind of measures, but surely something is better than nothing.

However members of the UK have to get past the "I'm special the rules don't apply to me" mindset. It won't work otherwise

SimonJT

“1. We have a lot of people landing each day, logistically how will this be managed?“

This was discussed in some detail on PM programme today. Australian guest said the country limits the number of arrivals, to ensure secure accommodation is available to every entrant. The equivalent of three, 737s allowed into Sydney from overseas each day.

@Hearwego

I understand that there will be an exemption list but surely the risk of covid is still there, regardless of what job someone does? I get some people work abroad and it isn’t necessarily their choice, but covid can still be transported here , even by just one person. Therefore these measures seem rather half baked. And how many people would really want to quarantine in a hotel and pay £1500 for the privilege? Is there that many? And will security guards really stop people leaving the hotels?

With regard to your first para about the exemption list - it's a risk vs. benefit decision that I mentioned in a post a while back...

Sure somebody working in certain jobs in logistics might just be at a risk of bringing the disease back from X or Y or Z ...but if in the course of their job when entering the UK they definitely help import X hundred thousand sets of covid testing kits, or y tens of thousand vials of vaccine, and if waiving that individual from the quarantine requirement means they can repeat the process several times a month, rather then being stuck in quarantine, then potentially the benefits to the UK of allowing them to skip quarantine might be considered to out weigh the risk of the importing the virus.

It's been a similar argument with some other jobs..if a radio therapy machine is badly broken do you allow a specialist engineer from Germany/the US to enter the UK, skip quarantine and work ASAP or do you have him/her jammed up in a hotel for a week plus? The risk of him/her bringing the virus into the UK might be outweighed by the benefits he/she brings to cancer sufferers by fixing the radio therapy machine ASAP.

Now OTOH run the risk vs. benefit for allowing somebody to return from holiday without quarantine and you may well have a more compelling argument for strict quarantine.

Thanks Puzzledandpissedoff

I see Australia lets 'special' people have their own way also and lets them quarantine in a luxury place of their own choosing. The tennis players had to quarantine though, I bet football players don't have to in the UK, probably there will be excuses trotted out like lots of testing being done with them. We will see.

@DenisetheMenace

SimonJT

“1. We have a lot of people landing each day, logistically how will this be managed?“

This was discussed in some detail on PM programme today. Australian guest said the country limits the number of arrivals, to ensure secure accommodation is available to every entrant. The equivalent of three, 737s allowed into Sydney from overseas each day.

Worth bearing in mind even in normal times Sydney is much, much quieter in terms of international passengers than the likes of Heathrow..over the year the International Terminal there handles at about 20% of Heathrow's numbers

Anyhow three 737s is a ballpark/back of the envelope 500 passengers a day..by way of comparison ATM some sources are suggesting Heathrow is still running at almost 8-10,000 passengers a day (and there are as I recall it about 10,000 hotel rooms "on the airport" at LHR )..so either the passenger numbers need to be cut even more drastically, or they are going to need bigger hotels

Yes, exactly, LHR must drastically cut its passenger numbers. That’s what Sydney has done.

And it’s limited to Australian citizens only.

We should have done this in March 2020 - blocked everyone without a UK passport. Arrivals herded into isolation camps in tough conditions and made to pay for their accommodation or do equivalent work. People stupid enough to travel against advice should not be mollycoddled on their return.

@sneakysnoopysniper

We should have done this in March 2020 - blocked everyone without a UK passport. Arrivals herded into isolation camps in tough conditions and made to pay for their accommodation or do equivalent work. People stupid enough to travel against advice should not be mollycoddled on their return.

I was personally involved in some of the repatriation efforts last March and I'm sure some of those I spoke to (some quite elderly) who had left the UK in Nov/Dec 19 to visit family in the Antipodes and then struggled to get home will appreciate your kind thoughts.

@Bluntness100

I think this is more to make people happy politically and to prevent new strains coming in

The issue isn’t the new cases, it’s the old people getting it. Average age of those dying is 82. The hospitals are predominantly full of elderly and vulnerable Covid patients, and rhe ones dying, as said, are on average 82 years old. The average death age is actually 81

But it stops new strains and that’s important.

I don’t think this is true. The over-80s are the ones predominantly dying, yes, but they’re not the ones filling up hospitals. Hospitals are full with people in their 50s and 60s who’ll most likely recover but will take up an ICU / hospital bed for weeks in the process.

It can be done, and it has been proven it can work. Anyone doubting me, please Google for pictures from a NZ music festival for thousands of people last weekend.

It's not easy though. I haven't been able to travel from where I live for a year now. I read with amazement MNetters travelling to Europe on holiday last year, not an option for me.

However hopefully schools, pubs, music venues, local music festivals you name it will be back open as normal from Monday, all local restrictions lifted.

Yes the local economy has been damaged with the complete lack of tourists and a huge international event being cancelled 2 years in a row. Heck the airport is being turned in to a vaccination hub, might as well use the building for something!

But equally local business is benefitting from people being unable to spend their holiday money in Spain, they have to spend it locally.

If the UK government close the borders and hold their nerve Blackpool and other deprived coastal areas might have the best summer season for decades

Newsnight reporting likely announcement tomorrow for high risk areas only- Portugal, South America, Southern Africa. With a decision yet to be made on rest of world. I suspect they will use this as a test run to see if they can scale it up to all arrivals. It also prevents them from having to deal for the moment with all the ports from Europe, because I'm sure they don't have a clue how they'd manage that.

It’s seems like cognitive dissonance for people in the U.K. to simultaneously push for tight local restrictions - to the point of berating people who let their children play with the neighbours’ children, or criticise children in supermarkets - yet also support people re-entering the community immediately after travelling internationally.

It’s seems like cognitive dissonance for people in the U.K. to simultaneously push for tight local restrictions - to the point of berating people who let their children play with the neighbours’ children, or criticise children in supermarkets - yet also support people re-entering the community immediately after travelling internationally

Completely agree - and this is coming from someone who is UK born and bred!

Can someone please explain this to me, a bit slow on the uptake today. If I reside in the UK and I leave to for whatever reason for a week, I will be expected to book a hotel and quarantine there and not my own home on return to the UK. Lunatics are running the country if this is the case.
I know Canada has something similar but their own citizens who rent or own homes there are allowed to quarantine in their own home where as tourists/ visitors will have to quarantine in a hotel for 10/14 days.

Poor old Cornwall it will be packed to the gills for a second season now as will very other British beauty spot. The culture department should get ahead of the curve now and be planning stages, PA, outdoor food and entertainment with provisions for safe entertainment for the masses. Otherwise, it will be illegal raves and fighting with the authorities all summer long. As there won't be any major festivals then there is a whole industry and infrastructure lying idle. The stay at home message simply won't survive much past easter.