London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 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
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×