Holidays ‘back on’ as ‘air bridges’ to other countries are set to go ahead

“Air bridges” between Britain and low-risk countries could be introduced by the end of June amid mounting opposition to the current quarantine measures on air travel

Restrictions forcing anyone arriving in the country to isolate for a fortnight will be introduced from Monday. Current UK rules state that the majority of international arrivals to the UK will need to quarantine for 14 days.

Restrictions forcing anyone arriving in the country to isolate for a fortnight will be introduced from Monday. Current UK rules state that the majority of international arrivals to the UK, apart from those people carrying out a number of specified job roles, will need to quarantine for 14 days.

This news comes after travel businesses have penned an open letter to the Home Secretary urging the government to lift the 14-day quarantine period to aid the recovery of the sector.

This new plan has been criticised by those within the travel and hospitality sectors, and it is understood that ministers are considering introducing these new air bridges three weeks after it comes into force when the policy is reviewed.

Agreements would need to be made with authorities from other countries before any such policy could be introduced.

Simon Clarke, the government’s Housing minister, said that he would not “speculate” on the suggestions that some destinations could be exempt from the 14-day quarantine rules.

“We all want to be able to get foreign holidays back on the table as soon as it’s safe to do so, but I can’t speculate on policy questions of that nature,” he said

“The policy is clear: a two-week quarantine effective as of Monday 8 June.”

Speaking in favour of the quarantine proposals, Mr Clarke added: “We’ve got case numbers coming down substantially now in the UK and we don’t want to import new risk, new cases from abroad at this very sensitive and delicate stage.”

But he stressed the government doesn’t want the measures to “be in place longer than is necessary”.

“We will be reviewing it on a three-weekly basis and hopefully we can transition out of it as quickly as possible as the numbers continue to come down,” Mr Clarke said.

“But I think many of the public want to know we’re taking robust action to stop new cases coming into the UK after all the sacrifices they’ve made since March.”

This comes after it was announced that some UK airports would require people to wear gloves and masks when travelling.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said that the contact-tracing system in England was “up and running” and was “successful” after reports of issues with technology, as well as staff saying they are being paid up to £27.75 per hour for not doing anything.

During Monday’s daily coronavirus press conference, he was asked why some contact tracers had such little work, Hancock said 25,000 had been hired and trained and that it was a good thing there were so many people in the role.

He said: “It’s successful, I’m very glad to report that those who are asked to isolate by the contact tracers are expressing the willingness to do so and we track that very carefully.

“The level of incidence of disease has come down and so actually we have more capacity than we need, this is a good thing.”