Ministers 'considering' 14-day quarantine for UK arrivals

According to The Mail on Sunday, the rule would see similar policy to that being used in Singapore – where arrivals must provide an address for where they will spend their 14-day isolation and breaches result in a fine, imprisonment or having residency or work passes revoked.

Officials would be able to enforce compliance under powers introduced by the "Coronavirus Act" and visit registered addresses of arrivals to ensure they were not breaking their quarantine.

Plans were agreed during a meeting of ministers and officials on Wednesday (22 April), The Mail on Sunday reports.

A government source told the newspaper: "A stringent, Singapore-style approach at our ports will help the UK manage the risk from travellers entering the country and reduce the possibility of a second peak.

"We are looking at deploying these measures at the right time, in line with the scientific advice and when community transmission has been significantly reduced."

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab confirmed this morning (27 April) the government was considering checks.

Speaking to Sky News, he said the UK would take "any new measures that are necessary".

Raab said: "That’s something that we will be looking at and it could include the testing for people coming in, it could include social distancing measures and we’ll make sure… that we are absolutely on top of the scientific evidence and are taking all the measures that are necessary to protect people’s health, to protect their lives but also to preserve our way of life as we go forward, economically and socially."

A 14-day quarantine of arrivals has already been implemented in a number of countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and Greece with more than 130 countries globally having introduced some form of travel restriction, quarantine and bans on travel from high-risk areas.