HEALTH Secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed the new “enhanced testing” regime for international travellers, with two tests required during the quarantine process from Monday.

There will be a £1,000 fine for failing to take the first mandatory test, and £2,000 for not taking the second test.

If you don't quarantine in the designated hotel when asked to, you could be fined up to £10,000, and face up to 10 years in jail for trying to hide a visit to a red list country.

There will also be a home quarantine option, with the two tests required, but only for travellers from 'safer' countries.

Sixteen hotels have been contracted for enforced quarantine measures in England from February 15.

New test requirement

Setting out the new health measures at the border which will come into force on Monday, Mr Hancock said today (February 9): “The new measures build on the tough action that we’ve already taken.”

He added: “Every passenger must demonstrate a negative test result 72 hours before they travel to the UK and every passenger must quarantine for 10 days.

“Arriving in this country involves a two-week process for all.”

Hotel quarantine will apply particularly to 33 'red list' countries thought to pose a high Covid risk.

£1,750 fee for 'red list' travel

Mr Hancock added: “We’re setting up a new system of hotel quarantine for UK and Irish residents who’ve been in red list countries in the last 10 days.

"In short, this means that any returning residents from these countries will have to quarantine in an assigned hotel room for 10 days from the time of arrival.

“Before they travel, they’ll have to book through an online platform and pay for a quarantine package costing £1,750 for an individual travelling alone which includes the hotel, transport and testing.

"This booking system will go live on Thursday when we’ll also publish the full detailed guidance.

“Passengers will only be able to enter the UK through a small number of ports that currently account for the vast majority of passenger arrivals.

"When they arrive, they’ll be escorted to a designated hotel which will be closed to guests who aren’t quarantining, for 10 days or for longer if they test positive for Covid-19 during their stay.

“We’ve contracted 16 hotels for an initial 4,600 rooms and we will secure more as they are needed.

"People will need to remain in their rooms and of course will not be allowed to mix with other guests and there will be visible security in place to ensure compliance alongside necessary support, so even as we protect public health we can look after the people in our care.”

Red list countries in full

Below is the full list of 'red list' countries.

Travel is already suspended to and from these nations. Arrivals into the UK are only allowed if you're a British citizen from these places.

Angola

Argentina

Bolivia

Botswana

Brazil

Burundi

Cape Verde

Chile

Colombia

Democratic Republic of Congo

Ecuador

Eswatini

French Guiana

Guyana

Lesotho

Malawi

Mauritius

Mozambique

Namibia

Panama

Paraguay

Peru

Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores)

Rwanda

Seychelles

South Africa

Suriname

Tanzania

Uruguay

UAE

Venezuela

Zambia

Zimbabwe

'Turning a corner'

Mr Hancock also said the UK is “turning a corner” in its efforts to tackle Covid-19, but warned the numbers in hospital and deaths were “still far too high”.

In a statement, he told the Commons: “Thanks to our collective efforts we are turning a corner. Cases of coronavirus have fallen 47 per cent in the last two weeks and they’re falling in all parts of the UK.

“But we’re not there yet. Hospitalisations are falling but there are still many more people in hospital than at the April or November peaks and the numbers of deaths, while falling, is still far too high.”

'Mission critical'

The Health Secretary said responding to new variants is “mission critical”.

He told the Commons: “Coronavirus, just like flu and all other viruses, mutates over time and so responding to new variants as soon as they arise is mission critical to protect ourselves for the long term.”

Outlining the Government’s four-part strategy to do this, Mr Hancock said: “First, the lower the case numbers here, the fewer new variants we get – so the work to lower case numbers domestically is crucial.

“Second, as I set out to the House last week, is enhanced contact tracing, surge testing and genomic sequencing.

“Third is the work on vaccines to tackle variants as set out yesterday by Professor Van-Tam.

“And fourth, health protection at the border to increase our security against new variants of concern arriving from abroad.”

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