UK immigration officials 'have had no information' about hotel quarantine...

Border staff not briefed about even basics of Covid protection system starting on Monday, says union



Immigration officials expected to enforce a mandatory quarantine intended to protect the UK from new coronavirus variants have not been briefed on even the basics about how the system will work, little more than 48 hours before it begins, the Guardian has been told.

The Immigration Services Union (ISU), which represents many of the Home Office’s immigration officers, said that before the start on Monday of the new policy, staff had not been told if they would be expected to check for arrivals who had not properly declared their status, or when and how those obliged to quarantine would be taken to hotels.

“They’ve had no information at all,” said Lucy Moreton, the general secretary of the ISU. “They can watch the media, read statements from ministers, but that’s pretty much it.”

From Monday, travellers arriving in the UK from 33 “red list” countries where potentially vaccine-resistant variants are common will be forced to spend 10 days in a hotel room quarantining at their own expense.

There have already been teething issues with the system. Throughout most of Friday people were still unable to secure hotel rooms, with an official booking portal unavailable due to what the health department called a “minor technical issue”.

Moreton said her members had not yet been told whether they needed to check the passports and tickets of people arriving, in case arrivals from red list countries had not declared their status.

She said: “It’s one thing if someone has declared it, prebooked their quarantine, that’s relatively simple. But to what extent are Border Force going to be checking to be sure people have been honest?”

If immigration officials did have to do the checks, she said, it could greatly increase queues in airports, with people mixed together dangerously. The union already has 80 members normally based at Heathrow airport who have been ordered to self-isolate.

Moreton said that while it had been announced that new quarantine management services would deal with red list arrivals being transferred to hotels, her members did not yet know if this would happen at the aircraft, or if they would queue at immigration with other people.

She said: “I recognise the complexity of the logistics of all this, but this is all really difficult for the staff, more so than the other changes. We’re hearing a lot of concern from people who are concerned about encountering someone who has been in a red list country and hasn’t declared it. Could they face abuse? Are they expected to detain them?”

It's a complete joke.

One person from a red zone could have joined the flight at a hub, travelled to the UK infecting all the other passengers, yet only that one person is required to attend hotel quarantine. The rest of the passengers are free to return home and infect everyone they come into contact with.

About what we've come to expect from the clowns running the country.

What they are failing to tell the people and media is nt telling no one is being checked coming in through the channel tunnel nor train nor the illegals coming in on dingies etc there is footage of this on you tube with Nigel Farage .

Hotel quarantine rollout in England 'an absolute joke', says border official



Border staff received guidelines on how to execute England’s new “red list” quarantine rules in an email two and a half hours before they came into force in a rollout that one worker described as “an absolute joke”.

British and Irish nationals or UK residents arriving from a list of 33 countries are now required to book a 10-day quarantine package costing £1,750 per adult, as the government seeks to limit the spread of new and potentially more dangerous coronavirus variants arriving from abroad.

Border Force sources told the Guardian that all immigration control staff had received a lengthy email with five attachments, detailing official guidance for carrying out the new checks at the border, at 9.25pm on Sunday. The rules came into effect at midnight.

Significant numbers of staff would not have seen the email when they started their shifts on Monday, the sources said. One Border Force operative on duty at Heathrow airport during the first day of the checks described the process as “an absolute joke”.

The email sent to Border Force staff by senior Home Office staff acknowledges that the new process “will be a lot to absorb” and adds that there will be “bumps along the way”. Sources told the Guardian the process was lengthy and queues were slow-moving but manageable on Monday.

A spokesman for the PCS union, which represents Border Force staff, said: “It is a disgrace our members in Border Force only received new guidelines on hotel quarantine late last night. It’s vital that Border Force are equipped to deal with helping the public stay Covid safe. However, many feel underprepared and under valued by a department that is not doing its job.”

The Home Office has been approached for comment.

I've just seen a piece on the news about it. They showed up what a farce it is.

Notice no mention of boarder force quarenteen at the channel tunnel as there is nt any. Why through out this have the government not closed all boarders but have allowed from the start people coming in from other countries and mostly been allowed to rome about free while we have been all on lock down.

According to the tunnel website if you travel from France to the UK ...

1. Certificate of Exit from France

You must complete a certificate to show that you have a compelling reason to leave France. It is called an “Attestation de sortie du territoire”. Everyone in the vehicle must complete one of these forms before arriving at the terminal.

2. Passenger locator form

To protect your health and others', everyone must complete an online passenger locator form before arrival in the United Kingdom.

3. Pre-travel testing

All customers aged 11 and over travelling on our passenger service require a negative Covid test result.

4. BEFORE you travel you must book a travel testing package for £210

You must take a coronavirus (COVID-19) test on day 2 and day 8 of quarantining. The test package must be booked before you start your journey.

5. Quarantine on arrival

All arrivals must quarantine for 10 days unless exempt.

6. Test to release

If you self-isolate in England, you may opt into Test to Release

Failure to comply with the above measures is a criminal offence and you could be fined.

How this is enforced (if it is at all) isn't made clear.

It appears that ferry advice is similar, except for this...

3) All arrivals must quarantine for 10 days unless exempt. If you have travelled through a red list country in the last 10 days, you must have a valid managed quarantine facility booked prior to departure. For information please visit: www.gov.uk/travel-quarantine-and-testing. Check the list of exempt countries immediately before travel and the list of work-related exemptions if travelling for work.