LESOTHO residents who wish to fly to the United Kingdom will now have to pay £1 750 (M35 525) online for a quarantine hotel before travelling – which includes two COVID tests that will now be made mandatory.
health
Feb. 12, 2021
STAFF REPORTER
2 min read
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The British Health Secretary Matt Hancock
This after the British Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that UK and Ireland residents would have to book a quarantine hotel package before they were allowed home.
This mandatory measure applies to those who have been in a “red-list” country in the last ten days and Lesotho is included.
This announcements comes in the wake of pressure on the Government to create a more cohesive border policy, which is intended to stop circulation of the South African mutation - that is not stopped by the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Scientists are increasingly worried that the South African mutation is able to be transmitted between vaccinated individuals, leading to drugmakers like Novavax creating booster jabs with the exact mutation in mind.
While the mutation is more infectious, it has not been proven to be more deadly.
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Currently, passengers take a test before they arrive to the UK. However, from Monday, every single passenger will have to take another test - on day 2 and day 8 of their isolation, whether it is in a quarantine hotel or private residence.
This measure is a clear response to calls that the South African mutation is spreading from countries not included on the official “red-list”.
Again, the people who are about to travel must book these tests before they make their journey. The tests will be further analysed if positive, to make sure the UK is aware of what variants are in the country.
There will be prison time for those who lie about their journeys, according to the Health Secretary speaking in parliament today. He further said: “I make no apologies for the strength of these measures.”
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