Scotland makes hotel isolation mandatory for all overseas arrivals

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon outlines quarantine strategy and plan to reopen schools on February 22

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced that all overseas travellers will have to quarantine in hotels. Reuters

Scotland said all overseas travellers must undergo mandatory quarantine in hotels.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Tuesday that everyone who arrived in the country would undergo "managed quarantine".

The approach differs from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's targeted quarantine system, under which self-isolation in hotels managed by authorities is mandatory for arrivals from "high-risk" countries.

Ms Sturgeon said schools in Scotland would reopen to some pupils on on February 22. In England, schools will not reopen until March 8 at the earliest.

She said that younger pupils were due to return first, followed by secondary school pupils, who would go back on a part-time basis.

Ms Sturgeon urged Mr Johnson to adopt the Scottish government’s quarantine system to keep new variants of coronavirus at bay.

“The firm view of the Scottish government is that in order to minimise the risk of new strains coming into the country, managed quarantine must be much more comprehensive,” she said.

“I can therefore confirm today that we intend to introduce a managed quarantine requirement for anyone who arrives directly into Scotland, regardless of which country they have come from.”

She said further details of her plan would be announced soon.

Last week, the UK announced that travellers from a "red list" of more than 30 countries would be required to quarantine at hotels.

A travel ban was later extended to include travellers from the UAE, but so far, hotel quarantine does not apply to returning British citizens.

Government sources told The National that UAE travellers would have to stay in the hotels from February 8.

But Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultant company the PC Agency, said hotel quarantines might not be introduced until February 15.

The UK government said the hotels were not ready to accommodate travellers yet.

"Work is ongoing on this and we'll be setting out more detail with regard to hotels and the processes around them soon," a spokesman for Mr Johnson said.

“It remains the case that logistical and operational aspects of that work is under way and has been under way for some time.”

Ms Sturgeon's announcement puts pressure on Mr Johnson to expand his hotel quarantine system after the opposition Labour Party accused him of being irresponsible on border control.

But UK ministers criticised Ms Sturgeon's approach.

"We will continually evolve our strategies but that is unfeasible and we have to be realistic about what we adopt and what we do — and what is deliverable as well," Michelle Donelan, the UK's Minister of State for Universities, told Sky News.

"[We have to be] targeted in our approach to making sure that we minimise the risk and identify those countries where we can see the risk. So a blanket policy that Nicola Sturgeon is proposing would not necessarily be as effective as the one we are suggesting, and also it is much more doable."

In pictures – coronavirus in the UK

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  The vaccination centre in the Newcastle Eagles Community Arena, in Newcastle upon Tyne. Reuters

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  Volunteers practices administering an intramuscular injection with a training model during vaccinator training to prepare volunteers to be deployed to assist in the national Covid-19 vaccination programme, at the University of Hull. AFP

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  A health official prepares a dose of Covid-19 vaccine at a community vaccination centre at Hartlepool Town Hall. Reuters

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