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?

I am desperate to visit elderly parents and really worried this will be implemented and won't be lifted for many many months.

I do understand the need to protect norders but it's bloody shit for families who are living and working overseas and haven't seen patents and grandparents in over a year.

I am starting to feel trapped and as if we'll never be able to get back to the UK. My parents will be devastated if we have to cancel. I just hope their health holds out.

Some people are going to be in incredibly difficult positions if a family member becomes seriously ill. It's awful and feels inhumane although I do also get that unwittingly bringing a new variant into the UK would be awful too.

I would obviously much rather just quarantine at family member's house though.

There is also the luggage issue as you say, I'm no sure I would have enough underwear for all this. I wonder if people will think of this,

I usually take enough underwear so I don’t have to wash it when I’m on holiday. That would mean a lot of knickers...

Ha. I was reading a post about Aus quarantine from someone who couldn’t open their hotel window even. The thought of landing in that sunshine and dealing with that made me baulk.

I wouldn’t have thought it was very healthy to be shut in a room with no fresh air for a fortnight

Also, no one moves abroad and factors in being prevented from travelling back home due to borders being closed indefinitely! It's unfair to think 'well, you should have thought of that before you moved'!

No, we didn't. We realised that living overseas would make it harder to get home in an emergency but no one could have predicted that it would be pretty much impossible! If we'd had a crystal ball to tell us this then we would not have left the UK.

The idea of shutting the borders is attractive if the aim is to eradicate the virus inside the country and lead a normal life. Does anyone for a moment believe we can eradicate coronavirus in Britain, a country with one of the highest death rates, with a government that messed up everything? To achieve this, we will have not only to shot the borders, but also to remain in full lockdown until all over 18 are vaccinated twice - so, for another year? Yeah, right, like that is going to happen.

I think it's necessary but I'm gutted. Starting a new job outside the UK soon and no chance we can go over to look at where to live, schools etc.

Because he lives here, this is his country. , he is quarantining in other countries because he is a entering there country so they can ask him to do so

And this country can tell him to quarantine on the way back in too.

@Ninetyseventhirtyfive

I am desperate to visit elderly parents and really worried this will be implemented and won't be lifted for many many months.

I do understand the need to protect norders but it's bloody shit for families who are living and working overseas and haven't seen patents and grandparents in over a year.

I am starting to feel trapped and as if we'll never be able to get back to the UK. My parents will be devastated if we have to cancel. I just hope their health holds out.

Some people are going to be in incredibly difficult positions if a family member becomes seriously ill. It's awful and feels inhumane although I do also get that unwittingly bringing a new variant into the UK would be awful too.

I would obviously much rather just quarantine at family member's house though.

It is really hard.

The quarantining in someone’s house only really works if the whole household quarantines though, not if they go out to work or the shops. I just can’t see how that could be policed. I know of a few friends who have hosted family from abroad and they’ve all been out and about.

And then, if left to their own devices, how many people who’ve just arrived here use public transport or do a food shop? It’s pretty hard to avoid contact with anyone.

I know how you feel about family, but we feel the same with our elderly parents in this country, 3 hours away.

And sadly, a friend has just lost their dad (non covid), but was unable to see him due to visiting being banned at hospitals, despite only living an hour away. They’d not seen each other properly since March, a couple of doorstep visits, as parents were vulnerable and wanted to wait for the vaccine. Well they had the vaccine, but then he got ill with something else before having chance to see family again properly, so sad.

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?

My parents and family live in Ireland. My DDs dont know them anymore.

Maybe I should just start thinking of them like they are already dead. Maybe I should just forget my family exists and accept I have nobody.

Not RTFT, and maybe being a bit dim, but I'll ask anyway! Is this for absolutely everybody? So you can't go home, you have to go to a 'quarentine hotel' instead?

It's interesting how so many posters on various threads look wistfully at the life people are having in New Zealand and Australia, where people can pretty much go about their normal life. But they have been able to do that as borders were closed very early on and are still closed.

If the UK is serious about getting back to normal they need to do this.

I live somewhere where the border restrictions everyone is wetting their knickers about have been in place for the best part of a year.

We have had normal life apart from one 3 week severe lockdown when a couple of cases were found.

We cannot leave the house without a mask. Masks are worn by all kids and staff in all hub schools, primary and secondary. It's really tough, but it pays off.

Oh and our borders are still closed, only way you can come here is by either renting a house for 6 months or buying one

It's interesting how so many posters on various threads look wistfully at the life people are having in New Zealand and Australia, where people can pretty much go about their normal life. But they have been able to do that as borders were closed very early on and are still closed

It’s really interesting. Most people in Aus are supportive of the border closure, especially now as things are fairly normal and no one wants to go back to lockdown. People here have also missed their international hoorays and visiting friends and family.

But I can see why there’s been no political appetite it for pursuing it in the U.K. It seems nearly everyone in the U.K. has their own, exceptional reason for why it wouldn’t work for them.

I wonder what will happen if they announce this measure for all travellers, then almost immediately announce that Premier League footballers are exempt... the British public may suddenly be less enamoured with this plan. Keep the plebs anesthetized with the beautiful game is probably the government's thinking 🙄

I never travel by Eurotunnel so I don't know the logistics, but does anyone know if this is realistically achievable there?? Can you herd hundreds of people out of their cars coming off Le Shuttle and onto a coach in a foolproof fashion? Or ferries for that matter? If this only applies to air travel it's totally pointless. (It's pointless anyway of course.)

*international holidays, not hoorays, though hoorays works as well

International sport is still going on. Is the UK planning to bow out from that entirely?
Are they going to shove the G7 delegates and their staff in the airport Marriot in June, oh no hold on May if they're to quarantine.
No, didn't think so.

@TwirpingBird I'm really sorry. I think you can just enter via NI if needs be, thats one border I very much doubt will be shut.

Australia probably doesn't have an long exemption list that the UK will likely have, that's why it won't work here

Are there many people coming over on car ferries and the Eurotunnel at the moment?

Can you herd hundreds of people out of their cars coming off Le Shuttle and onto a coach in a foolproof fashion?

And what, indeed, happens to said cars? You'd rapidly run out of parking.

Will there be a mini bar? What are the channel options on the TV?

But why are there hundred of people coming off the ferries in their cars at the moment?

It will be a worse debacle than the T&T if that's possible

I understand that there will be an exemption list but surely the risk of covid is still there, regardless of what job someone does?

Yes, of course it is - after all the virus is hardly going to think, "Hang on, that person's a such-and-such, better not infect them"

Just one more reason why the idea makes no sense and they'd do better to enforce the measures which already exist instead of piling up more problems

I'm glad they are doing it, but if they do it it should be done properly. I had a family member visit from a very high risk country last year. She quarantined for 2 weeks, but I seriously doubt everyone from her plane did. We didn't get a single phone call to check.

Australia and New Zealand closed their borders and had very strict lockdowns.
The UK didn’t do either of these.
A year on and the government have just come up with this idea.
They just make it up as they go along and blame the science or advisors.
Remember in August when hundreds of thousands of people drove down to Bournemouth because it was hot?
Lots of people went abroad on holiday too, and trusted them to isolate on their return.