Hotel quarantine for all travellers into Scotland from Monday
Plans outlined by the Transport Secretary mean anyone arriving in the country will need to pay £1,750 for a 10 day hotel stay
Anyone coming into Scotland’s airports from abroad will need to quarantine for 10 days in a hotel, and pay for it themselves.
Transport Secretary Michael Matheson told MSPs the Scottish Government was going a step further than the rest of the UK in introducing mandatory hotel quarantine.
Six hotels have been block-booked in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh with up to 1,300 rooms available.
The Transport Secretary said the cost to an individual traveller would be £1,750, with an additional supplement for each other passenger if they are not travelling alone, and costs will cover the accommodation as well as two Covid-19 tests during the 10-day period.
The Scottish Government has previously said UK Government proposals, announced in Westminster by UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Tuesday, do not go far enough.
They will only see travellers from “red list” countries required to quarantine.
“We need a comprehensive approach to restricting international travel,” he told MSPs in Holyrood on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately at the current moment, the UK Government continues to rely on a targeted, reactive approach.”
Mr Matheson told MSPs this “reactive” approach taken by the UK on international travel was “no longer sufficient to provide the protection necessary”.
The Scottish Government has agreed to join with the other nations of the UK to take the same approach in procuring the necessary hotels and transportation for the scheme.
Mr Matheson said: “Our aim on international travel has always been to work on a four-nations basis where possible.
“We're engaged with the UK and Welsh Governments as well as the Northern Ireland Executive to agree a joint approach to contracting the transport and accommodation services required for managed isolation.”
He added: “This will have flexibility to respond to the different policy directions we are taking and ensure all arrivals are required to enter quarantine here in Scotland.”
The differences between the systems between the UK and Scottish Governments means travellers could arrive south of the border before travelling to Scotland, if the country they travelled from is not on the red list.
According to the Transport Secretary, around 130 people from the red list travelled to England and made their way north of the border last week.
“We continue to press the UK Government to adopt what we believe is a more comprehensive approach and require all arrivals to go into quarantine hotels,” Mr Matheson said.
A “range of offences and penalties” are being devised by the Scottish Government, Border Force and Police Scotland for those who flout the new rules.
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