Matt Hancock has announced new rules for England that will come in effect on Monday 15 February.
The rules for England are on top of the negative test requires a maximum of 72 hours before travel and a 10-day quarantine for all travellers.
Hotel quarantine for UK travellers from 22 red countries for 10 days in an assigned hotel room. They must book a quarantine package which is £1750 for an individual travelling alone, including the room and transport. This booking system will go live on Thursday.
The government has contracted 16 hotels for 4,600 rooms.
PCR tests will be needed to be taken by all international arrivals on day two and day eight of quarantine – these will need to be booked through government’s online portal before they travel.
All positive tests will undergo genomic tests to examine them for strains.
Travellers will need to use a travel portal that goes live on Thursday, from this website they will be able to log in to book their test.
A £1,000 fine will be given to any international arrival who doesn’t take a PCR test. This will rise to £2,000 for those who don’t take a second test.
There is a £5,000 fine, rising to £10,000, for red list arrivals who don’t go to the hotel to quarantine.
Anyone who lies on a passenger locator form and tries to hide they have been to red list country in last 10 days faces up to 10 years in prison.
