Britain announced complusory quarantine for incoming travellers from high-risk countries and enhanced enforcement of its ban on travel for holidaymakers on Wednesday, as the country seeks to reduce Covid-19 infections during its vaccination campaign.
Travellers arriving in the UK from 22 high-risk Covid-19 countries will have to spend 10 days in government-provided accommodation, Interior Minister Priti Patel announced.
The "managed isolation process" would be at the travellers' expense and police checks on arrivals from elsewhere will be increased to ensure people comply with the regulations.
"It is clear that there are still too many people coming in and out of our country each day," Ms Patel said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that England would stay in a national lockdown for at least another six weeks, with schools closed and border quarantine rules coming into force.
A day after the British death toll passed 100,000, Mr Johnson said the government would review the impact of pandemic measures and the effectiveness of the vaccine programme in mid-February.
But March 8 would be the soonest that restrictions could begin to be eased and schools fully reopened, he said, and some rules will be tightened.
Production of the UK's Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine was disrupted on Wednesday after the discovery of suspect package outside its main manufacturing plant.
But management said later the parcel had been made safe and production schedules would not be disrupted.
AstraZeneca was locked in a bitter dispute with the EU as the bloc's health commissioner demanded the company divert UK production to Europe to make up for shortfalls in its delivery schedule.
