Brits forced to pay £1,750 each before leaving the UK for quarantine upon return

The Health Secretary has announced on Tuesday that all Brits returning back to the UK from red-list countries must pay £1,750 each to quarantine in a government approved hotel.

Matt Hancock told MPs in the House of Commons that the £1,750 hotel quarantine cost includes a room, transport and testing.

Hancock said the new raft of Covid measures imposed on travellers is to help crack down on new variants entering the country.

From 15 February UK and Irish residents who enter England and have been in red-list countries over the past 10 days must quarantine for for 10 days from the time of arrival.

Those who travel will have to pay for their “quarantine package” online before they depart, and the booking system will go live on Thursday.

Hancock said, “We are setting up a new system for UK and Irish residents who have been in red list countries for 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 will 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 will also publish the full detailed guidance.”

He added: “People will need to remain in their rooms and of course they will not be allowed to mix with other guests.

“There will be visible security in place to ensure compliance as well as the necessary support.”

Hancock also announced that there will be harsh new penalties for travellers entering the UK who deliberately fail to quarantine in approved hotels, could be fined up to £10,000.

Also, any traveller who hides a visit to a red-list country “will face a prison sentence of up to 10-years.”

These new legal measures will come into force this week across England, which could be extended to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Hancock told the Commons that he will make “no apologies for the strength of these measures because we’re dealing with one of the strongest threats to our public health that we’ve faced as a nation.”