London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Covid-19: Heathrow says hotel quarantine plan has 'gaps'

Covid-19: Heathrow says hotel quarantine plan has 'gaps'

"Significant gaps" remain in the hotel quarantine plan that comes into force on Monday, Heathrow Airport has said.

Travellers arriving in England from 33 high-risk countries will be required to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days.

But the airport said ministers needed to ensure appropriate measures were in place to avoid compromising the safety of passengers and airport staff.

The government said it was working closely with airports and hotels to manage any issues that arose.

UK nationals and Irish residents returning from the "red list" - mainly consisting of countries in South America and Africa, plus Portugal - will have to quarantine in government-sanctioned hotels to try to stop new coronavirus variants entering the country.

They will have to pay £1,750 for their stay, which covers the cost of the hotel, transport and testing, and book it in advance using a government portal.

Those who fail to quarantine in such hotels face fines of £5,000 to £10,000, while anyone who lies on their passenger locator form about having been in a country on the red list faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

But, less than two days away from the measures coming into effect, Heathrow said it had yet to receive "necessary reassurances" from the government.

A spokesman said: "We have been working hard with the government to try to ensure the successful implementation of the policy from Monday, but some significant gaps remain.

"Ministers must ensure there is adequate resource and appropriate protocols in place for each step of the full end-to-end process from aircraft to hotel to avoid compromising the safety of passengers and those working at the airport."

The airport is one of five in England where people requiring hotel quarantine can enter the UK and is expected to receive the largest number of passengers.

The other four are Gatwick, London City, Birmingham and Farnborough Airfield.


'Guinea pigs'


Regulations for the hotel quarantine measures, which come into force from 04:00 on Monday, have have now been published.

But on Friday the Immigration Services Union said its officials had yet to receive guidance on how the system would work.

The union said officials still did not know what levels of checks they should be conducting on travellers.

It also raised concerns about the safety of security halls.

And the GMB union has warned that "rushed" government plans are not thorough enough to make sure workers on the front line in quarantine hotels are protected.

The union said security guards were one of the occupations worst hit by Covid deaths, adding that it wanted to meet employers to develop a strategy to better protect workers.

Beckie Morris said travellers should not be used as "guinea pigs"
Meanwhile, a family returning to the UK after four years living in Abu Dhabi have said travellers should not be used as "guinea pigs", amid confusion over hotel quarantine rules.

Beckie Morris, 30, planned to repatriate to the UK with husband Matthew and their five-week-old daughter, but they now face a quarantine bill of thousands of pounds if they do.

The new mother said there was "no information" on the government website about what to do with young children.

She said: "We'd have to arrange all the formula. I don't know what we do about sterilising bottles, or nappies or washing their clothes - there's all this unknown. I tried to reach out, and I know it's still really early days, but there's just no information.

"They haven't really laid out what actually happens when you get to that hotel and I don't think that's going to be known until the first person goes in there.

"People shouldn't be used as guinea pigs - especially not paying that amount, that is an extortionate amount of money."

A government spokeswoman said: "Every essential check - from pre-departure testing to the passenger locator form - will help prevent the importing of new coronavirus variants into the UK.

"We are working closely with airports and hotels to manage any issues that arise and ensure the new process runs as smoothly as possible, and we are clear the safety of all staff and passengers is a priority."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×