Heathrow says government’s hotel quarantine plan not ready 48 hours before launch

Britain’s largest airport has sounded the alarm on the government’s hotel quarantine policy and warned it is not ready to launch with less than 48 hours to go.

Ministers have promised hotel quarantine will start on Monday, but in a statement issued on Saturday morning Heathrow airport said “significant gaps still remain”.

The airport said it had not received “the necessary reassurances” that problems will be resolved, after it emerged border officials had not even been told how the system would work.

MPs have warned of chaotic scenes at airports, while the union representing border force workers says staff are going on shift for the weekend unaware of what rules they will be enforcing come Monday.

“When the government announced its hotel quarantine plan, we immediately offered our help to make this successful in a complex airport environment,” a Heathrow spokesperson said.

“We have been working hard with the government to try to ensure the successful implementation of the policy from Monday, but some significant gaps remain and we are yet to receive the necessary reassurances.

“We will continue to work collaboratively with government over the weekend but ministers must ensure there is adequate resource and appropriate protocols in place for each step of the full end-to-end process from aircraft to hotel to avoid compromising the safety of passengers and those working at the airport.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care, which is administering the policy, said: “We are taking decisive action at the borders and every essential check – from pre-departure testing to the Passenger Locator Form – will help prevent the importing of new coronavirus variants into the UK.

“We are working closely with airports and hotels to manage any issues that arise and ensure the new process runs as smoothly as possible, and we are clear the safety of all staff and passengers is a priority.”

Yvette Cooper, chair of the Home Affairs Committee, warned on Friday: “Chaotic long queues with no social distancing in place have the potential to be super-spreading events that will undermine the very measures being introduced.”

Under the plans, travellers from 33 Covid hotspot countries will have to isolate in hotels for 10 days.

The policy was announced by Boris Johnson on 27 January in response to the emergence of concerning variants of the disease in Brazil and South Africa.

But it was not until Tuesday this week that the first contracts with airport hotels were sealed, backed up by the threat of a 10-year sentence in jail for anyone caught lying in an attempt to avoid having to isolate.

Legislation setting out the full basis for the new rules was only published on Friday evening.

Preparations were hampered by technical issues that crashed the internet portal on which travellers from red-list countries including Portugal and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Brazil and South Africa, are supposed to book their £1,750 “quarantine package”.

Meanwhile, trade unions have called for workers in quarantine hotels to be given adequate protection against coronavirus as people start arriving from overseas next week.

The GMB warned that “rushed” government plans could put people such as security guards at risk.

“In yet another cobbled together plan, the government have left it too late in the day to make sure workers on the front line in quarantine hotels are adequately protected,” said Nadine Houghton, GMB national officer.

“Staff need thorough risk assessments, full PPE, a knowledge of the ventilation system in each hotel and a much clearer understanding of what roles security workers are expected to play.

“It’s vital that we get round the table urgently with employers so that we can work together to make sure security staff are safe at quarantine hotels.”