AiBU to wonder what the point of mandatory hotel quarantine is....

[paralysedbyinertia]

...if people travelling from red zone countries are mixing freely and standing in queues with other travellers before they get to the quarantine hotel?

Honestly, what's the point of forcing people to pay a fortune for hotel quarantine if they're potentially spreading the virus around the airport before they can actually isolate? I had assumed that people arriving from red zone countries would be cordoned off and moved through dedicated immigration channels etc, but it seems not. Am I the only one who thinks this is lunacy?

I think the whole thing is lunacy at this point- we ruined people’s businesses, pushed people’s mental health to the brink and couldn’t close our fucking borders !

Probably partly a deterrent so people don't travel. Lots of people wouldn't be able to afford it or wouldn't want to spend so much more/take extra time off work, so will only travel if absolutely necessary.

Well, it's only really problematic for the people queueing at the airport - the mandatory hotel quarantine would then supposedly ensure that if they did pick it up at the airport they wouldn't spread it any further ie we assume that they are at risk in the country they've come from, on the plane and then in the airport, and they have to stay in a hotel until they know they aren't infected.

I do think the whole thing is ridiculous though.

Yep.
They should be in separate buildings. It's nuts.

It's a deterrent and a façade, if it was anything else then they would be managing it to a much stricter degree than they are now/have been.

The multiple tests and isolation involved with amber list countries was meant to be a deterrent as well, and the reason they're now fretting about this is that they've realised people aren't put off and are still booking/travelling.

Hotel quarantine/zero covid for a country like the UK (and Europe to a wider extent) isn't a realistic strategy, and everyone who was piping up saying that every country should be red listed needs to realise this.

@Ontopofthesunset

Well, it's only really problematic for the people queueing at the airport - the mandatory hotel quarantine would then supposedly ensure that if they did pick it up at the airport they wouldn't spread it any further ie we assume that they are at risk in the country they've come from, on the plane and then in the airport, and they have to stay in a hotel until they know they aren't infected.

I do think the whole thing is ridiculous though.

Yes, but my point is that red-zone travellers are mixing in the airport with travellers from other countries. If travellers from non red-zone countries are infected in the airport by standing in long queues with travellers from red zone countries, they may well spread it further afield because they won't have the same quarantine requirements?

I guess people are right that it is supposed to be a deterrent, but it just seems ridiculous.

The solution is to have mandatory quarantine for all travellers. Not the stupid red/amber/green but everyone mix in the airport plan.

@paralysedbyinertia if people travelling from red zone countries are mixing freely and standing in queues with other travellers before they get to the quarantine hotel? Can you tell where this is happening? As far as I am aware, there are very few passenger flights arriving into the UK from Red List countries atm, and certainly at one of the airports I work at (the other one is closed atm) there is a separate immigration process for the few passengers that do arrive. My regular work Covid testing location has had to move so that staff do not mix with passengers from Red List countries.

It's an attempt to copy what worked in Australia, but without looking at the details (as so often is the case with this inept government).

Australia had problems with leaky quarantine due to hotel staff mixing with guests and guests "escaping" - i.e. leaving the building then returning. They've addressed these. The UK actually allows guests to leave the building and return and there are no safeguards in place to prevent staff fraternising.

The ONLY benefit as I can see is that it reduces the number prepared to travel, although one has to question how many simply give false info.

Just think - if last February when the virus first emerged GLOBALLY, we'd banned all non-essential travel, and quarantined EVERYONE coming into the UK, the first wave would have taken FAR FAR longer to arrive - lockdown probably wouldn't have been required. The Kent variant would never have emerged. And by now, we'd be almost virus free and half-way vaccinated, ready to start tentatively foreign travel again around August/September.

[quote backinthebox]**@paralysedbyinertia* if people travelling from red zone countries are mixing freely and standing in queues with other travellers before they get to the quarantine hotel?* Can you tell where this is happening? As far as I am aware, there are very few passenger flights arriving into the UK from Red List countries atm, and certainly at one of the airports I work at (the other one is closed atm) there is a separate immigration process for the few passengers that do arrive. My regular work Covid testing location has had to move so that staff do not mix with passengers from Red List countries.[/quote]
It was on the news last night. A guy who had flown in from India filmed the airport and said how surprised he was to be mixed in with people from other destinations. I'm not sure which airport, tbh.

But it has been like this from the start. I remember an interview with a young guy flying in from Italy right back at the beginning of March last year , when Italy was a hot bed of virus and we had almost none. He was really surprised that he walked through the airport with no checks, no questions about where he had been or where he was going, or information given about what he should do if he felt unwell.

I think there is a vague idea that airports are somehow virus free zones, a bit like duty free shops!

@viques

But it has been like this from the start. I remember an interview with a young guy flying in from Italy right back at the beginning of March last year , when Italy was a hot bed of virus and we had almost none. He was really surprised that he walked through the airport with no checks, no questions about where he had been or where he was going, or information given about what he should do if he felt unwell.

I think there is a vague idea that airports are somehow virus free zones, a bit like duty free shops!

Yes, I know. DH flew back in from Asia just before the first lockdown last year, from a country which was definitely a concern at that time. He underwent various screening checks in his country of departure, followed by further checks in the country where he was in transit. On arriving at Heathrow, he was astonished that nobody even asked him if he had had a cough or high temperature, let alone actually checking anything. He wasn't advised to stay at home for two weeks or anything, although he chose to do that anyway. It was really shocking for us at the time!

OP your point is valid. At least if everyone other than from a green list country had to be in a hotel the chances would be minimised.

That would mean considering detail (this government does not do) and a competent Borders Agency (which did not even exist in 1066).

@ChocOrange1

The solution is to have mandatory quarantine for all travellers. Not the stupid red/amber/green but everyone mix in the airport plan.

And how does that work for business and trucks travelling to the UK daily. People who have sick family they want to visit?

I know of people who've missed close family funerals because of quarantine.

Not to mention killing the airline industry and the 1000s of jobs that rely on it.

Our border policy is a farce.

110 flights have come from India to the U.K. since India was put on the red list

Thousands of people have travelled from India to here, been in crowds in the airport then in taxis and on public transport...

U.K. Quarantine is too short.

That's why the U.K. has more cases of the Indian variant than anywhere apart from India.

I completely agree @paralysedbyinertia.

It is absolutely ridiculous. I assumed they would be taken off the plane to coaches straight to he quarantine hotels.

Either someone at the airport hasn’t thought this through properly or they’re trying to score political points to show there aren’t enough border staff.

They’ve had months to come up with a system, we are in a hospital and had to work out our systems with patients still using our services. There’s no excuse really.

@PrincessNutNuts

Our border policy is a farce.

110 flights have come from India to the U.K. since India was put on the red list

Thousands of people have travelled from India to here, been in crowds in the airport then in taxis and on public transport...

U.K. Quarantine is too short.

That's why the U.K. has more cases of the Indian variant than anywhere apart from India.

Don’t forget those who snuck in through turkey who probably haven’t quarantined at home and those who took connecting flights who will have sat by people who do not need to quarantine in a hotel. Even if these quarantine at home they may mix with others on transport to get home and their household may be at work and school.

@viques

But it has been like this from the start. I remember an interview with a young guy flying in from Italy right back at the beginning of March last year , when Italy was a hot bed of virus and we had almost none. He was really surprised that he walked through the airport with no checks, no questions about where he had been or where he was going, or information given about what he should do if he felt unwell.

I think there is a vague idea that airports are somehow virus free zones, a bit like duty free shops!

People from India who returned just before they went on the red list said that there were no instructions given to quarantine at home and no information on the flight or airport.