COVID-19: How does hotel quarantine work in UK and how does it compare with other countries? Countries around the world have different quarantine lengths and offer a varying degree of comfort – for a wide range of prices.
Travellers entering Britain from COVID-19 hotspots now have to quarantinein hotels.
The tightening of rules follows the emergence of new variants of the virus in South Africa and Brazil.
From 15 February, travellers returning to England from “red list” countries have to quarantine in government-provided accommodation for 10 days, paid for by the traveller.
Anyone returning to Scotland must quarantine in a hotel, not just from red list countries.
Sky News takes a look at how hotel quarantine works.
Passengers arrive in the arrivals area at Heathrow Airport, in London, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021. The UK closed all travelcorridors from Monday morning to protect against the coronavirus with travellers entering the country from overseas required to have proof of a negative COVID-19 test. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham).
Image: Passengers arriving in the UK from high-risk nations will have to isolate in government-designated hotels for 10 days. File pic
Which travellers will have to quarantine in hotels?
Any British or Irish nationals or anybody resident in the UK who is arriving in England and has visited or passed through 33 “red list” countries will be placed in quarantine in government-provided hotels for 10 days.
The red list countries are:
Angola, Argentina, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Eswatini, French Guiana, Guyana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Suriname, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Anybody entering Scotland from overseas will have to quarantinein a hotel for 10 days.
Foreign nationals and non-UK residents from those destinations are already banned from entering the UK.
Why is the measure being introduced?
Hotel quarantine is being brought in as a way to ensure people follow self-isolation rules when returning from certain countries where coronavirus cases are high or rising.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the move is aimed at preventingnew COVID variants from reaching the UK.
Passengers were delivered by coach to the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel on 15 February after flying into Heathrow Airport
Image: Passengers were delivered by coach to the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel on 15 February after flying into Heathrow Airport
What must people arriving from a “red list” country do before arriving in England?
Under the new rules, travellers must have a negative COVID test during the three days before arriving in the UK.
Passengers must book a government-approved quarantine hotel via the government’s website and complete a passenger locator form with details of that hotel along with a quarantine package booking reference number.
Travellers will have to agree to pay for the quarantine passage before they complete the form and start their journey to the UK.
They can only arrive into Heathrow, Gatwick, London City, Birmingham and Farnborough airports. If red list country passengers arrive into a different airport they can be fined up to £10,000 plus the cost of hotel quarantine.
If a person coming from a red list country does not arrange a quarantine package prior to arrival in England, there is a penalty of up to £4,000 plus the cost of hotel quarantine.
What will happen when people arrive in the UK from a “red list” country?
Passengers will be met at passport control in the airport and be guided through baggage reclaim and customs before being transported directly to their booked hotel.
Anybody with a car parked at the airport will need to extend their parkingperiod and pay the additional charges.
What will the 10-day quarantine be like?
The day a person arrives at the hotel will be day zero.
Travellers will then have to stay in their rooms for a further 10 days, with security guards accompanyingthem if they go outside for fresh air or limited exercise with special permission from security.
Needing to smoke is “not a reason to go outside” and is not allowed in rooms, the government said.
Passengers from red list countries will stay in the Radisson Blu Edwardian for 10 days
Image: Passengers from red list countries will stay in the Radisson Blu Edwardian for 10 days
The rooms will have been left empty for three days before and are deep cleaned between each guest, with the air conditioning set to not recirculate air between rooms.
Every guest, apart from children under five-years-old, will have to take a coronavirus test on or before day two and day eight, with the kits left outside their hotel room and collected by hotel security.
Anybody who does not take the tests may face a fine of up to £2,000 and have their quarantine stay extended.
If a day eight test’s results are not received before the end of day 10 then guests will have to stay in quarantine.
Anybody who receives a positive test, and anybody with them, will have to quarantinefor a 10 further days from that day.
This means, if someone tests positive on or after day eight of their stay, they will be required to quarantine for a total of 18 days with an additional charge of £152 per day beyond the initial 10 days of quarantine.
All rooms have a television, wifi, tea and coffee making facilities, basic toiletries, disposable cleaning products and a laundry service will be available.
Food, which can be chosen from a menu daily, will be left on trays outside rooms three times a day, along with fresh fruit, water and soft drinks – all included in the quarantine package.
Guests can order room service 24 hours a day and can order in delivery to reception which staff will bring up.
How much will the quarantine measure cost?
The cost of the package for one adult in one room for 10 days, 11 nights, is £1,750.
For every other person over the age of 12 in the same room it is an additional £650 or £325 for children aged five to 12.
Children under five will not have to be paid for, with the government bearing the cost of food and drink for three to five-year-olds.
What happens at the end of hotel quarantine?
If a traveller receives a second negative test they canleave after day 10.
They will be transported back to the airport they arrived in and can make their way back home from there.
Which hotels are included?
Quarantine hotels will be near the five airports included in the scheme, as well as near Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports in Scotland, where all arrivals must quarantine in the designated hotels.
Best Western, Novotel and the Radisson hotel chains are included in the hotel quarantine initiative.
England is far from being the first nation to introduce the policy.
Here’s how it has worked in other countries.
Mandatory hotel quarantine was introduced in Australia at the end of March 2020, one of the first countries to do so.
The hotels are designated by the government and determined on the day a person arrives.
People have to quarantine for at least 14 days, and up to 24 days if they refuse to be tested, or until they are clear of infection if they test positive.
They are transported to hotels by bus from the airport and meals are dropped off outside their room doors, with one delivery meal a day allowed to be ordered in.
The cost for a single traveller in New South Wales is about $3,000 (£1,695) for the fortnight, which is invoiced by the government when you leave.
At the airport, travellers into China have to fill in a variety of forms, get their temperatures checked and a COVID test.
Travellers are taken by bus to state-designated hotels, with no information given about which hotel beforehand.
Hotel staff wearing PPE call at least twice a day to record everybody’s temperatures, with a thermometer given to those quarantining when they arrive.
A COVID test is taken after a week and then just before the end of quarantine.
Food, included in the final price, is provided but the quality and quantity vary dramatically and some hotels do not allow outside delivery or alcohol.
The cost for a fortnight for one traveller (unmarried couples may be separated) is between RMB4,200 and RMB7,000 (£470 and £790).
All arrivals into Hong Kong, apart from China, Macau and Taiwan, have to quarantine in designated hotels for 21 days. Passengers from those three countries have a 14-day quarantine.
Travellers have to provide proof of a room reservation at a designated hotel before they can board their flight.
Coaches at half capacity take passengers – who have tested negative at the airport – to their booked hotel, where they will be tested on the 12th and 19th day.
Three meals a day, included in the cost, will be provided by the hotel and most allow food and other deliveries.
Prices for one person for 21 days range from $10,080 to $1,039,500 (£950 to £98,000).
Arrivals to most Indian states have to quarantine in a hotel (own expense) or government facility (paid for) for at least seven days, then if a COVID test is negative they can spend the remaining seven days in home quarantine.
People have to download an app and fill in health updates during their quarantine.
Costs range from INR10,500 to INR28,000 (£105 to £280) for one person for a week.
International travellers have to undergo quarantine at a designated hotel for five days.
Before that, they have to have a negative PCR within 72 hours before departure and a PCR test on arrival.
People travelling onwards to the popular tourist destination of Bali will require a negative test no more than 48 hours before departure.
Those arriving in New Zealand have to stay in isolation for at least 14 days at designated hotels, and up to 28 days if you refuse a test.
Everyone flying to New Zealand must have a voucher confirming they have been allocated a hotel room before they can book their flight.
A COVID test is taken within 24 hours of arrival, health staff check your health and wellbeing daily, and more tests are taken on day three and 12.
Three meals a day are provided and food and limited alcohol delivery is allowed.
There is a flat rate of $3,100 (£1,633) for one person, $950 (£500) for each additional adult in the room, and $475 (£250) for each child above the age of three in the room.
Incoming passengers must quarantine at a government-approved hotel for 14 days.
They have to take a PCR test at the airport and are taken to the hotel on a bus provided by the Coast Guard, or book a government-approved taxi.
Three meals are provided a day and food delivery is allowed.
The government is footing the bill for overseas Filipino workers who must quarantine.
Those entering Qatar have to quarantine in a government-approved hotel for seven days, with a few dedicated four or five-star quarantine hotels for UK arrivals.
A hotel package must be booked before flying and arrivals must have a COVID test at the airport before having another one on day six.
A transfer will be provided to the hotel where medical teams will be available 24/7 and three meals a day will be provided.
Packages cost between QAR2,724 and QAR4,016 per person for seven days (£548 to £810).
All arrivals must isolate in a government-designated hotel – only revealed once they get to it – for two weeks.
A negative PCR test within 72 hours before departure is needed, then one at the airport and another at the end of quarantine – those must be paid for.
Travellers will be taken to a hotel by bus and must have travel insurance to cover COVID-19 treatment and hospital costs if needed.
They must apply for hotel quarantine before arriving in Singapore and will be given an electronic monitoring bracelet or smartwatch to ensure they remain in their room.
The quarantine cost, which includes three meals a day, is about $2,000 (£1,100), not including $200 (£110) for each test.
All international arrivals need to provide a negative PCR test issued within three working days before boarding their flight, and upon arrival.
A 14-day quarantine is required in a hotel, government-owned facilities or student dorms if travellers cannot guarantee only one person will be in a private home, unless they all flew there together.
Travellers will be transported to the facility, which they cannot choose, and will be provided three meals a day.
Rates range from NTD1,000 to NTD20,000 (£26 to £522) for one person for a fortnight.
International arrivals have to quarantine for 14 days in a government-approved hotel, with one COVID test on the fifth day and one at the end, plus twice daily temperature checks by nurses.
Hotels are offering packages in association with hospitals, including private airport transfer, ambulance to a hospital if needed, three meals a day, a nurse on duty and daily health monitoring – but alcohol is banned by the government.
After the initial PCR test comes back negative, many are offering access to limited hotel facilities such as the pool area, golf course and spa.
Packages cost from 26,500 THB to 600,000 THB (£646 to £14,650).
