In February, the government introduced a rule that saw anyone from a “red list” of 33 countries forced to quarantine in a government-designated hotel for 10 days upon arrival in the UK in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus from other nations. But with England on track to end its current lockdown in June, does that mean the hotel quarantine will end too?
As part of the hotel quarantine rule, the government signed contracts with 16 hotels near airports to house those arriving from the “red list”.
These contracts will expire at the end of March but are expected to be extended.
According to the governments “roadmap” for lifting lockdown in the UK, international leisure travel could resume from May 17.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock, however, hasn’t ruled out extending the hotel quarantine policy into the summer.
READ MORE: Holidays: France, Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal latest FCDO advice
In February, Prof Van Tam said it was still “too early” for people to be booking summer holidays.
He said: “The more elaborate your plans are for summer holidays, in terms of crossing borders, in terms of house mixing, given where we are now, I think you just have to say, you’re stepping into making guesses about the unknown.”
Currently, all travel is banned for non-essential purposes.
However, holiday and tourism companies are eager for holidaymakers to return after a devastating year for the industry.
