UK to impose tough coronavirus-related restrictions at airports
As the UK tries to contain a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government has once again turned its attention to ports of entry and international travelers.
To that end, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, is set to unveil a coronavirus testing system for people traveling to the UK from overseas.
The core feature of the new measures revolves around forcing travelers to quarantine for 14 days, unless they have arrived from exempt destinations.
Shapps’ proposed measures come in the wake of repeated calls by airport bosses for more coronavirus testing of travelers on arrival to the UK.
For his part, Shapps, who is due to provide more detail to the House of Commons later today (October 07), said he understood “how frustrating” the current often complex and sometimes contradictory coronavirus-related rules can be.
"I know how frustrating it can be to have to quarantine after your holiday. It happened to me so I understand it first hand, but it is also important to make sure that we protect the health of people in the United Kingdom, where we have worked so hard and are still having to work incredibly hard to keep on top of this disease", Shapps told the nation.
Shapps said his scheme involves a “taskforce to implement systems” with a view to enabling more “testing” and “perhaps earlier release [from self-isolation]”.
Shapps’ intervention is being widely interpreted as a move to assuage the UK aviation industry before the full impact of the so-called second wave hits.
The aviation industry has been severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout.
Early last month, the directors of Southampton, Aberdeen and Glasgow airports accused the government of “overseeing the demise of UK aviation” by not facilitating large-scale Covid-19 testing at airports.
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