All international travellers arriving in the UK from abroad will have to take two Covid-19 tests during quarantine, the government will confirm on Tuesday, according to a media report.
The new measures, which critics say are too late to contain the spread of the virus, are aimed at slowing down new variants.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock is due to announce that people told to isolate at home will be required to get a test two and eight days into a mandatory 10-day quarantine period.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has been under pressure to tighten rules for international travellers, following criticism the regime was too lax.
But the health ministry said Britain’s response had been informed by experts leading to “some of the toughest border regimes in the world”.
Enhancing our testing regime to cover all arrivals while they isolate will provide a further level of protection and enable us to better track any new cases which might be brought into the country, and give us even more opportunities to detect new variants,” a spokesman said.
New mandatory hotel quarantine rules for travellers returning from dozens of countries deemed “high risk” from Covid-19 are due to start from February 15.
As per the new rules, will require all UK citizens and permanent residents returning from countries on a travel ban list to self-isolate in a government-approved facility for 10 days.
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