'High-value' business travellers to be exempt from quarantine in England

[dutchman]

From Saturday some performing arts professionals, TV staff and elite sportspersons will also be exempt



Senior company executives are among travellers set to be exempt from Covid-19 quarantine restrictions for international arrivals in England, meaning they will not have to self-isolate for up to a fortnight.

Recently signed elite sportspeople, performing arts professionals, TV production staff and journalists will also not have to abide by quarantine restrictions if arriving from a country outside of England’s travel corridor from 4am on Saturday.

Announcing the move on Twitter, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said “high-value business travellers” would be exempt from quarantine rules in an effort to boost the economy, “subject to specific criteria being met”.

It is understood that the exemption will apply to senior company executives, such as directors or their equivalents, either returning or travelling to England who can deliver “significant” economic benefit. They will only qualify for the exemption if their work requires them to be there in person.

Currently, travellers coming from non-exempt nations have to quarantine for two weeks, but as of 15 December people will be able to pay for a private coronavirus test to reduce their isolation time to as little as five days, as long as they return a negative result. The new “test to release” regime comes after months of lobbying by the struggling airline industry.

Senior executives classed as bringing “significant” economic benefit will include those whose work creates or preserves 50 or more jobs for either an existing UK-based business or a new UK business within one year of their arrival. The definition also covers those executives whose work involves purchasing goods or services from a UK-based business with at least 50 employees, where the order is worth at least £100m or is set to create or preserve 50 or more jobs in that business.

The DfT said Public Health England “do not anticipate these changes will raise the risk of domestic transmission, due to the protocols being put in place around these exemptions, however all exemptions will remain under review.”

[rebbonk]

[Melisandre]

Then they wonder why no one believes this is a pandemic .

[dutchman]

The farcicality of the new rule has not gone unnoticed abroad...

It reminds me of how wealthy slave-owners in the Confederacy were exempt from military service while poor farmers were forced to fight on their behalf.