The British Government will impose the
isolation of ten days in hotels to visitors to high-risk countries or with new variants
of the covid such as Brazil or South Africa.
The
premier
Boris Johnson considered until the last moment the possibility of extending the average to all those who come to the United Kingdom (including residents and British return to their country) but the pressure from the airline and tourism industries led him to rethink the measures.
Home Secretary Priti Patel will announce the new measures in Parliament on Wednesday, a day after the
UK surpassed 100,000
coronavirus
deaths
and
Prime Minister
Boris Johnson took "full responsibility" for the tragic figure.
The United Kingdom is in any case the first European country to opt for the drastic
Australian
measure
for visitors, who will have to pay for their hotel stay (estimated at between 1,100 and 1,650 euros) and
literally remain locked in their rooms for ten days
.
The extension of this measure to the total number of visitors would have been equivalent to the "total closure of the borders", according to a spokesman for the Association of Airport Operators, who stressed how the
United Kingdom is already one of the countries with the most restrictions in force
due to the pandemic (for ten days it is mandatory to present a PCR with a negative result in order to enter the country).
It would also have been a logistical nightmare: an estimated 8,000 visitors continue to arrive on British soil every day, despite restrictions.
In the vicinity of Heathrow Airport, where the new arrivals would be transferred by buses, only 10,000 rooms are available.
Thousands of Britons canceled their vacation plans in any case for the next few months,
fearing that the government would end up extending restrictions to all countries.
The prospect of spending ten days on the way back locked up in a hotel room, with no other option than to pick up the food tray or change the sheets, has had an overwhelming deterrent effect.
"We need a solution that gives us the maximum possible protection against reinfections from abroad," declared Boris Johnson,
ignoring the effect that the British strain has already had in several European countries
.
The strongest supporter of the "Australian" solution has been Home Secretary Priti Patel, who has already looked the other way to copy her immigration system on merits.
The imminence of the announcement provoked an angry reaction from conservative media such as
The Daily Mail
, especially critical of Johnson's policy on the pandemic.
The
prime
minister
himself
sent
mixed messages to the population speculating
, in an interview with
Sky News
, with the possibility of a relaxation of the confinement measures in mid-February.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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