The United Kingdom has been working a little behind the curve on safeguarding themselves from the coronavirus. They first went for the Herd Immunity strategy before going for the lockdown strategy and now falling in line with another strategy the world has been using at least a couple of months. Yes the UK 14 days Quarantine on Arrival, which has been discussed for days, is now live.
As of June 8, 2020, onwards, everyone who will arrive in the UK will be placed in quarantine for two weeks, as per the UK Secretary of State Priti Patel. The UK travel industry has contested these measures as they come too late and as the industry is already coming to a grinding halt.
The UK 14 Days Quarantine on Arrival will require you to provide an address for your stay in the UK, or you would be sent to a government-mandated quarantine hotel at your own expense (just like in India), and asked to quarantine for 14 days, when you arrive in the country on June 8 and onwards. The details you will need to provide will include your passport details, name of your travel service (airline, train or ferry), booking details, arrival port and date, quarantine address and an emergency contact.
If you would not be able to provide these details or refuse to your quarantine, you will be deported back to your point of origin. Spot checks will be enforced, and fines will be imposed to the tune of 1,000 GBP and upwards for breaking the quarantine. The current measures are expected to last for three weeks, till the end of June 2020 that is, and the UK would assess new rules in the coming weeks as the CoronaVirus spread rears its ugly head.
You will not need to self-isolate for 14 days if you’re travelling to the UK from within the Common Travel Area, that is:
- the UK
- the Republic of Ireland
- the Channel Islands
- the Isle of Man
There is a massive list of exceptions as well to those who can come and go from the UK without the requirement for a quarantine. However, the UK misses the point that these moves would have been more useful back in the day than now. The Government’s advisors are telling them that at this point, 99.5% of the cases would be locally transmitted.
Bottomline
Not that people are ready to travel at this point, but even those who are would desist a move to go someplace where they would be held in isolation for 14 days before they can get anything done. This could also move in a direction where other countries could require those arriving from the UK to be in quarantine as well for the time being. However, the next time you decide to head to the Queen’s direction, do remember, she will make you wait for a couple of weeks before she’d meet you.
What do you make of the UK decision to put everyone in a 14-day quarantine on arrival?
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Meanwhile, thousands of illegal migrants continue to cross the English Channel to gain entry and avoid quarantines.
I don’t like it. I’d stay in my safe space, but right now I’ve got a lot of virtue signalling to do. I don’t expect to win, but I’ll be a hero and get a participation trophy just for showing up.