Boris Johnson has been too slow to stop new variants of coronavirus at our borders

The Independent led the way in calling for coronavirus testing of arrivals at British airports, something that finally became law last week. In fact, we advocated testing at a time when the level of infections in the United Kingdom was low; there seemed little point to it when the virus was widespread, because the contribution from new arrivals was “negligible” compared with the spread from existing cases in the country, as the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies put it in March. 

However, requiring arrivals to show a negative test now makes sense, because of the threat from new variants of coronavirus. Unfortunately, time has been lost because preparations were not made, and so there was a delay of several days before the new regime could come into effect. It is too early to be sure that vaccines protect against the South African or Brazilian variants, but the loss of those days could have mattered. We need to be in a position where we can react to new threats immediately. 

It would seem from passenger crowding at Heathrow Terminal 2 on Friday that even that delay did not give Border Force officials and the airport management time to ensure that the inevitably longer queues could be managed safely. 

The need to be able to react quickly to a changing situation is why the prime minister must order a start on airport hotel quarantine today. Not because we need to isolate all passengers on arrival: that is not justified. The combination of requiring a negative test and requiring isolation at home is probably sufficient. 

There remains a risk of spreading infection by travelling within the UK from the port or airport to one’s destination, as Yvette Cooper, chair of the home affairs select committee, pointed out to Boris Johnson 10 days ago. But for the moment that risk is not significant as long as tests and isolation requirements are in place. 

However, the government needs to be in a position where it can order people to be isolated at the point of arrival if necessary. It should be arranging the provision of airport hotel rooms now so that it can organise isolation on arrival, in the manner of Hong Kong and South Korea, in case it is needed to contain dangerous new variants. Instead, 10 months into the crisis, ministers are only now planning to meet this week to discuss the idea.

Mr Johnson told the news briefing on Friday: “We may need to take further measures still; we may need to go further to protect our borders because we do not want, after all the effort that we’re going to in this country, to put that at risk by having a new variant come back in.” This has been obvious for some time, and it is another mark of his failure to get a grip on the situation that he does not already have plans in place, ready to be activated the moment there is evidence of a new threat.