How will the 14-day UK travel quarantine work?

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The Government has announced details of its travel quarantine arrangements this afternoon.

As had been trailed, virtually all arrivals into the UK will need to enter into quarantine for 14 days on arrival. For non-UK citizens / residents, Border Force will be allowed to refuse entry if they believe that the visitor will not abide by these arrangements.

The exact details will not be known until full written Government guidance is published. This is what was announced:

When does the new quarantine system begin?

8th June

Who is covered by the quarantine ruling?

Everyone entering the United Kingdom from anywhere except Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Ireland, except for freight drivers, doctors and scientists entering for coronavirus-related work and fruit pickers.

How does it work?

Arrivals will need to have filled in an ‘online contact locator’ form before arriving in the country. It will not be a Government requirement to have completed the form but airlines may at their discretion refuse to carry passengers who have not done so. This will be used for quarantine enforcement and for contacting travellers if any fellow passengers on their flight, boat or train falls ill.

Arrivals must leave the port or airport by car, wherever possible, and head to a location where they will quarantine for 14 days. Travellers should not receive visitors and should not leave their quarantine to buy food or other supplies if possible.

Hotel accommodation will be provided for arrivals who do not have accommodation arranged.

Other people who are staying in the same house as someone who is quarantining do not have to enter quarantine.

What is the fine for breaking quarantine?

The police will not be directly involved in enforcing quarantine.

Public health officials and ‘private contractors’ will be responsible for visiting arriving travellers. (It is unclear how this will work as I doubt either of these groups has the legal right to enter your property.) In theory, these contractors will supply the police with details of those who were not at their stated address so that the police can issue a fixed penalty of £1,000. Other parts of the UK can set their own arrangements.

When will these measure be reviewed?

The measures will be reviewed every three weeks.

The official guidance should be available on this page of the Government website very soon.

Category

General

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Rob says:

22 May22 May 20:27

Now I think about it …. ‘private contractors’ have no legal right to enter your property. I am fairly sure ‘public health officials’ don’t either. (Even the police have no right without a warrant.) This makes you wonder how this can be enforced ….
- Freddy says:
  
  22 May22 May 20:44
  
  Don’t need to enter the property to verify if Joe bloggs is having a 14-day siesta. If he isn’t willing to show his face at the front door then he should probably expect to recieve a fine
  - Rob says:
    
    22 May22 May 21:51
    
    I can tell you didn’t go to law school.
    - Jonty says:
      
      23 May23 May 09:52
      
      Civil contingencies act allows public health officials to do stuff that would otherwise be completely in conflict with usual civil liberties
    - mvcvz says:
      
      23 May23 May 10:02
      
      I can tell he didn’t go to school.
  - Lady London says:
    
    22 May22 May 23:04
    
    if the ‘private contractors’ are anything like the ones used for parking enforcement then they will try every dirty trick in the book and will lie to earn bonuses and commission.
    
    Why is the UK doing so badly on this ? i thpught Italy was a disaster. How on earth can the UK be worse.
- Chris Heyes says:
  
  22 May22 May 20:50
  
  Rob@ Border Force do have a legal right (which would include employees of Border Force with specific instructions) incidentally HM Tax also can plus Customs.
  Above can use force as well, more powers than Police
  But your right about Police (as long as you don’t open your door to them, same with debt collectors)
  - Anna says:
    
    22 May22 May 23:16
    
    Complete rubbish and likely to result in your door being smashed in!
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      23 May23 May 07:58
      
      Only if they have either a warrant or suspect a serious crime/emergency (cries for help etc) is taking place cause.
      
      Didn’t answer the bell and were under quarantine would not be just cause they also can’t search without permission or a warrant.
  - mvcvz says:
    
    23 May23 May 10:03
    
    What about Bob the builder and his cat (or was it someone else with a cat – Dick Whittington perhaps?)
    - ankomonkey says:
      
      23 May23 May 17:21
      
      Shrek had a cat…
- David Cohen says:
  
  22 May22 May 21:06
  
  The Police do have certain powers to enter private property, but they’re much more limited than customs and immigration. S17 PACE provides the Police this as well as Common Law (in the event of a breach of the peace), however I’m struggling to think how either could be applied in this circumstance. My knowledge of immigration law isn’t sufficient to understand what powers the UKBA/BF (or whatever they’re called now) have to enter premises. I see this as unenforceable without primary legislation.
  - David Cohen says:
    
    22 May22 May 21:54
    
    Having just answered my own question, the Coronavirus Act 2020, Schedule 21, Ancillary powers, (20)(5) does give Constables power of entry.
    “A constable may enter any place for the purpose of the exercise of a power conferred by this Part of this Schedule.”
    However, it doesn’t seem to imply that health officials have that power of entry.
- Anna says:
  
  22 May22 May 23:03
  
  A common misunderstanding that British police need a warrant to enter property or arrest someone. There are powers of entry without a warrant under PACE which include arresting someone and to protect life and limb, which makes sense as you wouldn’t want to wait while a warrant was sworn out if you were lying unconscious on your kitchen floor after falling over and knocking yourself out.
  - jamie says:
    
    23 May23 May 11:37
    
    ‘British’ Police? PACE doesn’t apply in Scotland, where we have ‘Scottish’ Police
- CV3V says:
  
  23 May23 May 08:54
  
  Its more complicated than that, the police do have powers of entry in certain circumstances. However I was told in a training course (many years ago) that customs officers had the most powers for entry and even arrest. Similarly, with grounds, even Environment Agency staff have entry powers. I’ll stretch this and suggest that local authority environmental health officers, on the grounds of public health, will have entry powers…..Googled it, yes they do, but for a residential property need to give 24 hrs notice. If they think they won’t still get entry then they can apply for a warrant in advance.
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    23 May23 May 12:46
    
    Well if I was given 24hrs notice I’d be sure to be at home 🙂
Samuel says:

22 May22 May 20:45

These measures seem like a BNP policy. No foreigners anymore and all done for health. Tommy Robinson & co must be having a field day. How can business people do international business like that? No company is going to send an employee for two weeks into quarantaine.
- mvcvz says:
  
  23 May23 May 10:06
  
  High time all this so-called business travel was properly reviewed by all organisations, public and provide. With current technology, at least 75% of it must be entirely unnecessary.
Andrew says:

22 May22 May 21:30

Remember, by the very fact that we are all on this website means we make it our hobby to exploit loopholes – Iberia 90k Avios anyone? So we are in a bit of an echo chamber here. Most people won’t be looking at ways to avoid being caught for breaking quarantine – they will be looking for B&Bs in Cornwall.
- marcw says:
  
  22 May22 May 21:35
  
  Was the IB90k a loophole? No, it wasn’t.
- Sapiens says:
  
  23 May23 May 06:23
  
  IB 90k .. what a time to be alive that was! Ended up burning mine at Grand Hyatt HK
Richie says:

22 May22 May 21:55

Presumably you avoid the quarantine by getting a flight from wherever in the world to Dublin, then get a separate flight from Dublin back to London/Manchester / wherever – given it doesn’t apply to travel between Ireland and UK.
All so stupid – if you’re going to do this, then do it 3 months ago!!
- OB says:
  
  23 May23 May 07:16
  
  Once you’ve completed your mandated 14 day quarantine in Ireland obviously.
BJ says:

22 May22 May 22:08

So much garbage in the comments today, it’s enough to elevate some of @Shoestring’s rambling monologues to classical masterpieces.
- Darren says:
  
  22 May22 May 22:18
  
  Strange times indeed
- mr_jetlag says:
  
  22 May22 May 23:13
  
  Well, what I really want to know is whether Rob would be cashing in his Virgin miles and if I should do the same.
  - Chrish says:
    
    22 May22 May 23:37
    
    mr_jetlag@ Robs Saving his for a rainy day (whats the weather forecast) Not that i’m allowed to speak for him so probably you’ll never know lol
    - BJ says:
      
      23 May23 May 06:15
      
      He’s stated as much here in the comments often enough. He has also explained that the transfer to Hilton doesn’t work for him well due to the difficulty of getting family rooms as standard reward nights while premium rewards for better rooms or suites don’t work because of poor value/point. Doing something just because Rob is doing it would hardly be a wise strategy as everybody has different circumstances? And Rob’s are likely far from typical.
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        23 May23 May 08:01
        
        🙂
BJ says:

22 May22 May 22:19

And now we have Cummings breaking the rules too, got to feel sorry for his parents though, they must be hugely disappointed.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-52779356
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  23 May23 May 08:01
  
  They obviously knew he was coming and going.
- Oh Matron! says:
  
  23 May23 May 08:40
  
  To quote Alan Partridge: “Do you ever look at your child and think, ‘Oh my god, I have spawned a monster!'”
  
  The problem with the top 1% is that it’s an awfully small gene pool
Yawn says:

22 May22 May 22:33

So the policy will be reviewed every three weeks? Any guesses how long it will hold? I actually do need to leave the UK at the end of next week (a long and personal story), and I’m not scheduled to be back until late July, but I really don’t like the idea of effectively not being able to get back home.

My sense is that they would have to renew it at least once – possibly twice – not for any public health reasons (there are none), but to save face.
- ankomonkey says:
  
  23 May23 May 17:33
  
  Interestingly, if they extend it once only (total 6 weeks) then it will finish on the weekend at the start of most English school summer holidays. Extending it one more 3-week period would allow someone to travel during those 3 weeks and complete quarantine before the schools are due back in September. A 4th 3-week period would prevent someone with school aged kids and following the rules from taking a trip for more than a week. The government’s decisions on quarantine extension will impact the ability for a lot of people to take a summer holiday this year. Obviously, this may be a major point in these decisions.
Anna says:

22 May22 May 23:11

It’s a farce and yet another example of how those in government don’t understand how things happen in the real world. It’s impossible to prove whether someone is in or out of their house unless you actually catch them outside, and even then it’s far from clear whether people will be allowed out to buy food (in which case, “I was on my way to the supermarket” should cover it). There is zero chance of anyone being tasked with watching to see if someone in quarantine leaves their house and then following them to see where they go. As far as enforcement goes, all the person will have to do is challenge the fine then offer as their defence in court, “I didn’t hear the doorbell because I was having a nap/in the shower/I’m actually deaf, your worships”.
And to cap it all, you can spend quarantine in the same house as people who aren’t quarantining?!! Please can someone explain the science behind that 😂
- mr_jetlag says:
  
  22 May22 May 23:16
  
  Let me be clear, we are entirely led by the Science, and the Science says, since its ok if my married girlfriend visits me in quarantine, then its ok if others who live with ppl in quarantine then visit their married girlfriends. QED.
  - Boi says:
    
    22 May22 May 23:25
    
    What is a married girlfriend?
    - Rob says:
      
      23 May23 May 10:18
      
      A girlfriend who has a husband.
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        23 May23 May 13:07
        
        I was going to go with somebody else’s wife
  - Alex M says:
    
    22 May22 May 23:48
    
    You should have consideration for your girlfriend’s husband – he could have caught covid from you through her!
    - mr_jetlag says:
      
      23 May23 May 08:58
      
      indeed, that’s why I was forced to resign from SAGE.
      - ChrisC says:
        
        23 May23 May 09:22
        
        They didn’t have thyme for your ramblings and told you to get stuffed?.