The U.K. Health Secretary, Matthew Hancock, has announced that those who lie when filling in a new COVID related travel arrival form, could face ten years in jail, more than is possible for some child sex offences.
In the latest of the increasingly severe restrictions imposed upon the British public in the name of preventing the spread of COVID-19, Hancock announced in the House of Commons yesterday that travellers arriving into England could face a £10,000 fine, or prosecution and up to ten years in jail, if they lie about which countries they have been to in order to avoid the new mandatory hotel quarantine.
The measures are focused on passengers returning from the recently designated “red list,” countries which have been listed by the government as being at high risk or with suspected COVID-19 variants in the population. Flights are suspended between these countries, currently numbering thirty-three, and only U.K. residents can arrive from such countries. Included among the list of thirty-three are countries such as Portugal, South Africa, Zimbabwe, the U.A.E. and several countries in South America.
On February 9, Hancock revealed the new rules as the latest measure in the “fight against this virus.” With effect from February 15, all arrivals to England will be forced to take two COVID-19 tests, on the second day and then the eighth day after arrival.
Despite all passengers having to provide proof of a negative COVID test three days before their departure, if passengers are coming from the “red list,” the first ten days after arriving in the country will be spent in forced quarantine in hotel rooms, which the government has procured for this purpose.
The government mandated hotel quarantine will cost £1,750 per person and will be paid for by each traveller. Three meals a day will be provided in the rooms, and the corridors will be patrolled by security guards, to “ensure compliance,” and that no one leaves their rooms. Breaking the news about the arrangements, The Telegraph wrote that it was “like a description of Soviet-era Russia.”
Passengers will have to pre-book the expensive isolation period before beginning their travel, and will be taken straight to the isolation center upon arrival.
Those who arrive from counties not on the red list, will not be subject to the hotel quarantine, but will have to “self-isolate” for ten days at home instead.
In addition to this, all passengers will be ordered to complete a “passenger locator form” which will detail the journey undertaken, as well as the details for their quarantine and testing. If anyone lies on the form, attempting to hide the fact they have arrived from a red list country, they could face a £10,000 fine or prosecution and up to ten years in prison.
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