The UK government has said that countries with a low Covid-19 infection rate might in future be excluded from the new 14-day quarantine system under a network of “air bridges”.
Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, said the idea was being discussed by ministers and officials. It would mean some countries could eventually be excluded from what would start as a “blanket” scheme from early next month to quarantine most arriving travellers for two weeks.
“It is the case that we should indeed consider further improvements, for example things like air bridges enabling people from other areas, other countries who have themselves achieved lower levels of coronavirus infection to come to the country,” he told the House of Commons transport select committee on Monday.
Last week the government made a U-turn on plans to exclude France entirely from its proposed quarantine, although Ireland will remain outside it. The new system will instead exclude only a handful of critical professions including lorry drivers, scientists and some experts.
The cabinet committee on international Covid-19 issues, chaired by Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove, was on Monday expected to finalise the list of exemptions, such as researchers and specialists in national security or critical infrastructure.
Downing Street said on Monday that the changes would not be permanent and would remain under a rolling three-week review “to ensure they are in line with the latest scientific advice and that they remain effective and necessary”. Officials said it was too early to say whether the measures could be lifted before the school summer holidays.
Oliver Dowden, culture secretary, said the exemptions would be “sensible” and “proportionate”. “If we didn’t apply quarantine exemptions to lorry drivers, we wouldn’t be able to get all the freight we need from France from the rest of Europe to Britain,” he told Sky News.
Ministers separately announced a £35m deal for six ferry companies to keep open vital freight routes in and out of UK ports such as Dover, Portsmouth and Hull.
But the UK tourism industry has warned that the government’s quarantine plans will send out a “hugely concerning” message that Britain is “not open to tourists”.
Kate Nicholls, head of UKHospitality, said the quarantine would put a “question mark” over the future of many British tourism businesses. “This is hugely concerning because just as the industry is getting back on its feet, essentially this is saying we are not open to tourists,” she said.
Ms Nicholls said the industry would prefer quarantine based on future immunity tests to prove that people had already had coronavirus.
Many of London’s most famous tourist attractions receive more than 70 per cent of their visits from people based overseas, particularly high-spending Americans and Chinese.
Yet the UK is usually a net exporter of tourists in the summer. Last August 9.4m residents went overseas for their summer holiday, spending £7bn, compared with 4.1m foreign residents who came to the UK in the same month and spent £3.1bn, according to the Office for National Statistics.
That means quarantine could give a boost to domestic tourism this summer by forcing British citizens to spend at home.
Ms Nicholls conceded it could be “some good news” for the industry if quarantine forced UK residents to take domestic trips this summer.
But she pleaded with the government to make its messaging consistent and make clear as soon as possible if UK-based summer holidays were allowed.
“Quarantine suggests travel is dangerous . . . it could result in a double whammy of an international hit and a hit to domestic [tourism],” she warned.
Patricia Yates, acting chief executive of VisitBritain, is expected to tell the culture select committee on Tuesday that it needs government funding for a big marketing campaign focused on domestic travel — and an additional bank holiday to encourage more people to holiday at home.
The new £35m ferry agreement will safeguard the provision of food and medical supplies through 16 crucial routes for the next two months.
The companies receiving assistance are Brittany Ferries, DFDS, Eurotunnel, P&O, Seatruck and Stena.
Those routes, mostly covering the English Channel and North Sea, had previously been at risk of closure because of a plunge in demand as a result of Covid-19. They will now be designated as Public Service Obligation routes for up to nine weeks, thereby avoiding state aid complications.
