Union bosses have labelled the introduction of new 14-day quarantine rules for passengers arriving at airports in Britain a ‘shambles’ amid a chaotic launch.
Just three out of 60 passengers arriving on one Ryanair flight at London Stansted from Eindhoven yesterday were said to have filled out the form before landing.
Travellers must give their phone number and an address for self-isolation, but about half of passengers arriving at UK airports yesterday were unaware of the new policy.
Lucy Moreton of the Immigration Services Union said: ‘The staff are really angry that this does appear to be very shambolic and they don’t want to be blamed for that.’
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that there was no way for border staff to check the address given by travellers and that the system was built on ‘trust’.
Health Minister Helen Whately was asked on Sky News today how many people were placed in quarantine yesterday, but replied: ‘I don’t have the data you’re asking for.’
She added: ‘Because I’m a health minister with oversight of care homes and the NHS workforce… There is a policy of quarantining arrivals in this country, and the reason we’re doing it is because it’s so important to us to keep infection down.’
Yesterday one passenger arriving from Pakistan, who asked not to be named, said of the online forms: ‘It looked like the whole flight hadn’t filled it out. It was packed.’
Home Office sources said e-gates are still operational at airports but Border Force teams can decide to close these for operational reasons such as low demand.
Staff at London Gatwick Airport in West Sussex clean the North Terminal this morning
Passengers have to fill out this online form before going through the border at UK airports
People queue at a check-in desk at Manchester Airport yesterday as the plan comes into force
Hassan Shamshir, 36, who arrived at Heathrow yesterday after an eight-hour flight from Islamabad, told the Daily Telegraph he had no idea about the new rules.
He said he was ‘delayed one and a half to two hours just filling out the form’, but those queuing up for a Border Force tablet were there for ‘a minimum of three hours’.
Mr Shamshir added that his family ‘couldn’t really socially distance’ while waiting, and eventually got into a taxi to go to his family home where he will self-isolate.
He said: ‘Fewer counters are open, but the queues are long. It’s causing chaos. They have to open more counters as the airport gets busier or it will be eight hours.’
Health Minister Helen Whately was asked on Sky News today how many people were placed in quarantine yesterday, but replied: ‘I don’t have the data you’re asking for’
Passengers arrive at London Heathrow Airport yesterday after the quarantine rules came in
The Telegraph estimated that half of yesterday’s airport arrivals did not know about the new policy – a figure which passengers the newspaper spoke to also gave.
Meanwhile an unwell passenger arriving at Heathrow from Switzerland and needing to go to hospital admitted he was unaware of the new quarantine regulations.
The traveller explained that he was about to board the ‘subway’ into London despite displaying signs of an illness which he claimed were from an ear or tooth infection.
The passenger, who was wearing a face mask, told ITV News London reporter Martin Stew that he was going ‘on the subway’ after being asked: ‘How were you going to get to where you were going?’
When asked: ‘Nobody told you that you have to stay in one place for two weeks?’, the passenger simply replied: ‘No.’
During the clip the reporter went on to ask: ‘And you could have a fine of maybe £1,000 if you don’t stay in one place. It’s quite bad isn’t it? If nobody has told you it’s a problem.’
The passenger nervously laughed at the information before replying: ‘Yeah. I still have other issues right now so I wanted to go to the hospital.’
Passengers arriving at Stansted on the flight from Eindhoven criticised the measures yesterday.
Ali Gurlek, 30, a software developer from London, said the measures ‘lacked common sense’ because he was about to travel home on public transport – as allowed under the rules.
At the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras, Sylvain Preumont, 50, a business manager who makes a weekly round-trip from Paris, said as a frequent traveller he was exempt but that he was no fan of the policy.
‘It makes no sense,’ he said. ‘This was invented to reassure people… to please them, and then we realise that it is not feasible.’
At Heathrow yesterday, Jane Mason, 49, who had arrived on a British Airways flight from Washington, said: ‘I could have been lying the whole time and to be honest, nobody is really checking.
‘I completed the online form before I left and when I arrived at Heathrow the immigration official asked me to repeat the address where I said I would be quarantining. After that he just let me pass and didn’t check at all if what I had put down is true.’
Ms Mason, a writer, revealed that she would be staying in quarantine in a private residence in central London rented for her by her publisher.
She said that she was travelling to it via pubic transport, which the Government has strongly advised against ‘unless there is no other option.’
She said: ‘No other option is the ‘get out of jail card. Nobody has arranged to pick me up so I’m going to get on the Heathrow Express. I probably shouldn’t be doing that, but I have no other choice.
‘This quarantine system is going to be difficult to enforce. Are they really going to carry out spot checks to make sure people are in quarantine? Have they got the time and the personnel for that?’
Before boarding the train, Ms Mason revealed that she was only going to be in the UK for three weeks, two of which will be spent in quarantine.
One traveller who arrived from Washington, wearing a black baseball hat and mask, headed straight to Heathrow’s underground station insisting that he was going to work.
When informed that he is meant to quarantine, he fumed: ‘If Boris wants us to stay off public transport then he should arrange taxis for us all. I’ve got to get to work and don’t want to say anything else.’
Passengers arrive at Heathrow Airport yesterday as the new quarantine rules are brought in
People wearing face masks who landed at Heathrow board an Underground train yesterday
Fiona Gathright, 59 who also arrived from Washington said: ‘It’s not going to be easy to enforce this quarantine system.
‘It relies on people to be honest and it is easy to lie, both on the online form and when you arrive because there are no thorough checks being carried out if you’ve told the truth.’
Ms Gathright revealed that she will be quarantining in a flat in Bristol that she owns and will be staying in the UK for two months. She arranged to travel there in a taxi.
She added: ‘I’ll be in my flat and I promise you, I will quarantine. But I really don’t think anybody is going to turn up to check.’
Britney Medina, 27, a doctor, who arrived from Los Angeles for a six-week stay in Britain to visit friends and family said: ‘I think the quarantine system is not necessary and not enforceable.
‘The UK authorities are relying on people to be honest. It’s a moral question if you are going to tell the truth and stick to quarantining for two weeks. I’m not sure if most people will do it.’
Ms Medina, who is staying in rented accommodation in central London added: ‘The immigration officer just asked me to repeat the details that I had put down on my online form. They need to do more checks before letting people into the country.’
It comes as serious cracks appeared in the quarantine measures on their first day of operation yesterday.
Seats marked to help with social distancing at London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 yesterday
Britney Medina (left) and Jane Mason (right) were both passengers arriving at Heathrow yesterday. Ms Mason, 49, who had arrived on a British Airways flight from Washington, said: ‘I could have been lying the whole time and to be honest, nobody is really checking’
All arrivals to the UK – including Britons – must now fill in an online ‘contact locator’ form setting out where they will live for a fortnight. Refusal to do so risks a £1,000 fine.
But last night it emerged police will take ‘no immediate action’ even if a passenger has been found to have given a false address.
One border source said: ‘It’s been a complete farce. The vast majority of passengers have not filled in forms in advance.
‘Those who have filled it in are given an online reference number, but immigration officers can’t log in to check whether that form has been filled in properly.’
The source added: ‘It’s been impossible to socially distance in the Heathrow arrivals halls because so many people have been milling around.
‘There’s been trouble at Heathrow and at Calais and Coquelles, where the UK border checks take place for the Channel Tunnel. It’s a mess.’
The scheme was further undermined last night as the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) issued guidance which revealed the light touch forces will adopt when checking up on travellers during quarantine.
Even if a false address appears to have been given, police should take ‘no immediate further action’, the guidelines say, and the case simply referred to the UK Border Force.
If police visit an address where someone is supposed to be self-isolating and there is no answer, the NPCC says further visits are ‘suggested’ but there should again be ‘no immediate further action by police’.
That case should be referred to Public Health England.
And if police discover someone at a different address to the one they gave on their form, they should only remove the person to their given address ‘as a last resort’.
An NPCC spokesman said most of the responsibility fell to Public Health England, adding: ‘Police have a limited role in quarantine regulations.’
In the event of a case being referred by PHE to the police for action, he added: ‘We will seek to establish the circumstances and we will continue our approach of engaging, explaining, encouraging and, only as a last resort, enforcing.’
Passengers arrive at Terminal 2 at Heathrow Airport in London yesterday, as new quarantine measures for international arrivals begin
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said measures were needed at the border but quarantine was a ‘blunt instrument’.
‘We have got the situation where – weeks ago – other countries put quarantine in and we didn’t,’ he told LBC Radio.
‘Now as everybody’s lifting it we’re putting it in. I would much prefer to see some sort of testing regime at the airport.’
A Government spokesman said: ‘The most efficient way to get through the border is to fill out the form before travelling here.
‘There are also devices at ports for passengers to fill in the form on arrival, to make sure that people who may not be aware are still able to comply.’
British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair have sent a pre-action letter, the first step in an application for judicial review, which argues the restrictions are disproportionate.
** Are you stuck or have witnessed quarantine chaos? And do you know the Swiss traveller who said he was ill? Email [email protected] **