There was confusion at the UK airports on Monday as the Government's new hotel quarantine system begins. Passengers lament the huge queues and confusion for the people coming from the high-risk countries.
Passengers said social distancing needs to be improved at UK airports after travellers from high-risk countries mixed freely at the border on the first day of hotel quarantine.
Travellers who arrived from the so-called red list of 33 countries which includes the UAE, South America and all South Africa were escorted through terminals and on to buses before they were driven to surrounding hotels for a 10-day quarantine.
The scheme is designed to prevent new variants of coronavirus from entering the UK, but passengers at London Heathrow Airport complained that red list passengers were funnelled through the same area as other travellers before they were separated.
“Everybody is funnelled through the same area. It doesn’t make sense to me.” One of the passengers lamented.
After clearing customs, red list travellers are escorted by security officers through the terminal and on to coaches waiting in the airport.
One woman in Terminal 2 was accompanied by four male security guards while she was shown out of the terminal. Other passengers, however, were escorted out by no fewer than two guards.
Another male passenger who came from Brazil complained that he was in immigration and queued for a long time. "I can’t do anything, I just can watch TV and stay in my room." He added.
A woman, from Zambia, said: “she was not happy, but you have to do it.”
While passengers described the new system as unpleasant, Health Secretary Matt Hancock insisted the system has been operating “smoothly” since it came into force at 4am.
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