Any traveller caught flouting quarantine will face a fine of over Dhs50,000…

There has been a huge crackdown on international travel recently, in particular to the UK, in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19.

It has now officially been confirmed by the UK Government that any traveller arriving to the country must, by law spend ten days in quarantine at a government-approved hotel, at the traveller’s own personal cost.

UK and Irish residents returning from 33 ‘red list’ countries, including the UAE will have to pay £1,750 (approx. Dhs8884) for the mandatory ten-day hotel quarantine. Failure to comply with hotel quarantine means a fine of up to £10,000 (approx. Dhs50,766).

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According to Sky News, this includes ‘the cost of Covid testing, an escort between the airport and their designated hotel, food, accommodation and security.’ The rule comes into effect from Monday, February 15.

In a statement on Gov.UK, the UK’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed that the government has booked 4,600 rooms across 16 hotels for those arriving from any of the red list countries. These hotels will be closed to any other guests.

He also outlined that further to a pre-flight negative PCR test result, travellers will have to do two further tests whilst in quarantine: on day two and day eight of the ten days. These must be booked via an online portal, which will go live on Thursday, Feb 11, prior to travel.

This applies to all British and Irish nationals, or passengers with UK residency rights, who may return via indirect flights. Currently, all non-British travellers from the UAE or who’ve transited through through the UAE will be denied entry to the UK.

Countries on the UK’s travel ban list or ‘red list’ are: 

  • Angola
  • Argentina
  • Bolivia
  • Botswana
  • Brazil
  • Burundi
  • Cape Verde
  • Chile
  • Colombia
  • Democratic Republic of the 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
  • United Arab Emirates (UAE)
  • Uruguay
  • Venezuela
  • Zambia
  • Zimbabwe

Image: Getty