London’s Heathrow Airport’s dedicated terminal for red list arrivals has been criticised as it opened today.
Previously, those arriving from 43 high-risk countries – such as India, Brazil and South Africa – were mixing with others from lower-risk amber and green nations in airport queues sparking outrage.
Now, London’s busiest airport has converted Terminal 3Â into a red-list only arrivals zone. The terminal was previously unused during the pandemic due to a reduction in international flights.
Passengers travelling to the UK on connecting flights from red list locations continue to transit through the airport alongside those from green and amber countries.Â
Flights are only permitted from a few of the red list nations – including India where the latest variant originates – and arrivals must be British and Irish nationals or UK residents. Passengers arriving in the UK after being in one of those destinations during the previous 10 days must spend 11 nights in a quarantine hotel, costing £1,750 for solo travellers.
Those from amber list countries can quarantine at home, and green list arrivals – nations with the least risk of exported Covid cases – don’t need to isolate at all.
David Katende, 51, a cab driver from Feltham, west London, said: ‘Travelling was okay, it just took a little more time that’s all.
‘I came from Uganda and connected through Amsterdam, so I could have been seated next to red list passenger.
‘But I’m not concerned because they would have been tested like me before getting the plane.
‘Some of the countries on the red list are actually safer, but because they are a flight hub, they get put on the red list.
‘I think separating passengers is not really a very nice thing because it makes them feel different.
David Katende, 51, a cab driver from Feltham, west London, said everyone was tested when they left so did not see the point
Amir Jahandin, 28, an animator who is visiting his grandmother in hospital in London, said he came from Boston in the US
Angie Ney, 37, a caretaker who had just arrived from Luxembourg to visit her boyfriend Sabir Ahmed, 36, from London
‘They should have just left it as it is, because everyone is tested when they come in and again on days two and eight, so what’s the point?
‘I think travelling from an amber or red list country is basically the same thing, except you have to go to a hotel, which costs like £1,700.
‘The hotel money is like another holiday.’
‘I’ve been travelling quite a lot in the past few weeks – Istanbul, Malaga and Luxembourg.
Amir Jahandin, 28, an animator who is visiting his grandmother in hospital in London, said: ‘I just came from Boston in the United States and there is a lot of paperwork.
‘And I had to fly through Portugal because there were no direct flights, which were affordable.’
‘The airline doesn’t tell you anything, so I only just found out I needed a passenger locator form and a negative covid test.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever been so stressed out about travel in my life – it felt like I was trying to enter a country that’s difficult to get into like Iran or something.
‘I think closing Terminal 3 is a good precaution to take, but I guess putting some countries on a list and isn’t a good place to be starting from.
‘Because it seems like green list countries aren’t necessarily safer, they are just places people like travelling to.
‘Also the fact that a lot of the red list countries are poorer nations is no coincidence in my opinion.
‘I think it’s indirectly discriminating against them, because these countries haven’t been given the same access to vaccines, but that’s a whole other problem.
‘They were shouting at us saying ‘are you from a red list country’ and scooting them into the red list customs line.
‘I’m not sure what the system is in place if they find someone who has got covid.’
Angie Ney, 37, a caretaker who has just arrived from Luxembourg to visit her boyfriend Sabir Ahmed, 36, from London said: ‘I think a lot of these rules are illogical because, for example, if you look at Luxembourg, the R rate is barely above zero, yet Portugal’s is much higher and it’s on the green list.
‘I don’t think closing Terminal 3 is the right thing to do, because people can still transit through other places.
‘And there are lot of people standing in the queues here in Terminal 2 with their masks pulled down or completely off.
‘Also I needed to have two PCR tests, but I’m not even here on day eight. Still, I had to buy it anyways, so it’s just a money making scheme.’
Mr Ahmed said: ‘I tried calling the healthcare service to explain the situation, but the woman was quite rude actually and said she needed anyway.
‘It’s a bit short sighted on the government to think people will be coming to the UK for a minimum of 10 days.
‘It doesn’t make sense.’
Alex Papp, 34, an offshore worker who is travelling to Amsterdam said: ‘I’m not that worried about coming into contact with red list countries because I work with so many different nationalities.
‘I work with 59 different nationalities on my rig and I’ve been working all through covid and not one person has got covid.Â
London’s Heathrow Airport has converted Terminal 3 (file image, pictured) into a red-list only arrivals zone. The terminal was previously unused during the pandemic due to a reduction in flights
London’s busiest airport has converted Terminal 3 into a red-list only arrivals zone. The terminal was previously unused during the pandemic due to a reduction in international flights
Travellers from red list countries must isolate for 10 days in a quarantine hotel
A passenger arriving from red list India (left) and another arriving from New York in amber list US (right) in Heathrow last month
Previously, those arriving from 43 high-risk countries – such as India , Brazil and South Africa – were mixing with others from lower-risk amber and green nations (pictured last month) in airport queues sparking outrage
‘I think closing terminal 3 and the rules are all rubbish – if we’re so confident in this vaccine, why are we bothering.’
Heathrow is the only UK airport which has dedicated a terminal to red list arrivals so far.
Other airports quizzed by the BBC – including Bristol, London’s City Airport and Gatwick – have no direct red list flights coming in at this time, meaning similar measures would not be necessary.
Heathrow insisted there were ‘several layers of protection to keep passengers and colleagues safe’, such as mandatory testing for all arrivals, segregation and ventilation.Â
It comes as ministers are preparing contingency plans to extend restrictions beyond June 21 – ‘freedom day’ – amid fears that a surge in cases of the Indian variant could lead to a spike in hospital admissions and deaths.Â
Cambridge professor Ravi Gupta yesterday warned there are signs that the UK is in the early stages of a third wave of coronavirus infection and that the lifting of restrictions should be postponed.
Meanwhile, Government minister George Eustice acknowledged England’s ‘Freedom Day’ in June could be in jeopardy as the Indian variant spreads. Daily coronavirus cases rose by nearly 40 per cent in a week to 3,240 yesterday.
The Government has faced mounting calls to ensure red list arrivals are separated from those coming in from other countries to limit the spread of Covid.
Downing Street earlier insisted that it is down to airports to make sure border queues happen in a Covid-secure way, and that the Government is ‘doing everything possible to make this process as efficient as possible’.
Asked whether amber and red arrivals should be separated at airports, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson last month said that ‘all arrivals should be managed in a way that is as Covid-secure as possible.’Â
Flights are only permitted from few of the red list nations – including India where the latest variant originates – and arrivals must be British and Irish nationals or UK residents. Pictured: Heathrow Airport
A Heathrow Airport spokeswoman said today: ‘Red list routes will likely be a feature of UK travel for the foreseeable future as countries vaccinate their populations at different rates.Â
‘We’re adapting Heathrow to this longer-term reality by initially opening a dedicated arrivals facility in Terminal 3 from June 1 for red list passengers arriving on direct flights.Â
‘We will move this facility to Terminal 4 as soon as operationally possible.
‘While opening this facility will be logistically very challenging, our hope is that it will enable Border Force to carry out its duties more efficiently as passenger volumes increase in line with the green list.
‘Until then, the current red list system will remain in place.Â
‘This system has been designed by the Government and has several layers of protection to keep passengers and colleagues safe – including mandatory negative Covid tests for all international arrivals, mandatory use of face coverings, social distancing, segregation and enhanced cleaning regimes and ventilation in immigration halls.’Â
An airport executive said in April that passengers are being forced to queue for up to six hours to be processed through immigration halls.
It is the first time Terminal 3 has been used since April 2020, when it was closed to save costs amid the collapse in demand for travel.
Britain’s red, green and amber travel lists are due to be updated later this week after international travel was legalised on May 17.Â
Robert Boyle – former director of strategy at British Airways’ parent company IAG – has predicted that Bahrain, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Kuwait will be added to the red list ‘shortly’ due to rising infection rates.Â
He wrote in a blog post: ‘Given how much heat the Government is taking about the delays in adding India to the red list, you might wonder why the four red list candidates haven’t already been added.Â
‘But ministers are also under heavy pressure to open up travel, not only from beleaguered airlines and other travel companies, but also from parts of the media chafing against what many see as unjustified state restrictions on liberty.’Â
It was last night revealed that Britons are still not banned from travelling to Vietnam even though a potentially dangerous new Covid variant has been found there.
A strain of the virus appearing to be a hybrid of the UK and Indian variants, both of which are fast-spreading, has appeared in the country.
Daily coronavirus cases have risen by nearly 40 per cent in a week to 3,240 as deaths rose by 20 per cent
The red list was drawn up to slash the risk of Britain importing new variants of the virus that could risk vaccines not working.Â
There was uproar among scientists and politicians when it took weeks for India to be added despite it having the world’s worst outbreak – and a variant that emerged there is now dominant in the UK and threatens to wreck plans to end lockdown.
Despite this and the revelation that a new variant has sprung up in Vietnam, the country remains on the amber list, which means hotel quarantine isn’t required.Â
The variant is not yet internationally recognised so it is unknown whether it has spread to other countries.Â
Vietnam’s tough crackdown on the virus meant it has been largely untouched by Covid with a total of just 7,107 cases and 47 deaths since the start of the pandemic.Â
But that number of cases has more than doubled from just 2,900 at the beginning of May, which the health minister said could be due to the new variant. Â
Dr Nguyen Thanh Long said the new strain could be behind the variant now being in 30 of the country’s 63 provinces.
Ministers are preparing contingency plans to extend restrictions beyond June 21, amid fears that a surge in infections of the Indian variant could lead to a spike in hospital admissions and deaths. Left, Boris Johnson. Right, Nadhim Zahawi
Public Health England analysis shows of the 12 people who have died with the variant in the country, eight were unvaccinated, two had a first dose, and two had both doses of a vaccine
He did not specify the number of cases that have been recorded with the new variant, but said Vietnam would announce more details soon.
It is likely to have been circulating for a month already, based on how Vietnam’s cases surged, and scientists in Britain have said it’s vital to act fast to try and keep out new variants – although they admit it is impossible to stop it forever.
Boris Johnson was slated by MPs after allowing thousands of people to fly to the UK from India after the variant had emerged there.
Yvette Cooper, Labour MP and shadow foreign secretary, said about the Indian variant spreading in Britain: ‘This was not inevitable, it is just the latest in a long list of examples where the Government was too slow to act at the border,’ The Telegraph reported.
‘Instead of adding India to the ‘red list’ at the start of April, when it added neighbouring countries like Pakistan, the Government inexplicably waited another two weeks.’
She added: ‘If we had learned the lessons from the countries who got this right during the first wave, we would have taken precautionary action early to keep this new variant out. Yet the Government is still making the same basic mistakes at the border all over again.’Â
Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said yesterday: ‘The single biggest threat to [ending lockdown] is ministerial incompetence.Â
‘Today ministers remain engulfed and distracted by internal rows and blame shifting at just the moment we need a laser like focus on this variant.
‘Weak, slow decisions on border policy let this variant in, continued lack of sufficient self-isolation support and a stand off with local public health directors over vaccination policy failed to contain it.’Â
Vietnam, which is in South East Asia beneath China and on the South China Sea coast, is a popular travel destination and in normal years hundreds of thousands of Brits visit.
Although the Government is advising people not to go there at the moment it is not illegal, if they can get a visa from the Vietnamese government, and hotel quarantine isn’t required when arriving back in the UK.
The purpose of the red and amber travel lists was to minimise the risk of a new variant being imported into Britain and countries were added to red if this risk was high.Â
The Department for Transport says: ‘You should not travel to amber list countries or territories.’
However, people who are not British citizens or residents are allowed into Britain if they have been to an amber list country, which they aren’t for red list nations.
It comes Britain’s hugely successful vaccine drive continues, with thousands of young people yesterday descending on Twickenham Stadium hoping to get a Covid jab as part of a special one-day event.
A huge queue, described by some as being ‘longer than those at Glastonbury’, was seen outside the west London venue on Monday, as thousands of young vaccine hopefuls lined-up to get their Covid jab. Â
Thousands of people are tonight making a mad dash to jump the Covid vaccine queue by taking part in a one-time only event at the home of English rugby
Queues, described by some ‘as long as those to get into Glastonbury’, are tonight forming outside Twickenham Stadium in west London as people rush to get their Covid jab
Organisers say there are now enough people in the queue to use up all 15,000 doses. Earlier today organisers had warned hopefuls to get to the stadium before 7.30pm in order to get a jab
Earlier in the day, the under-30s had been given green light to get their vaccination at the special walk-in event at the 82,000-seater ground.
Bosses behind the scheme had been aiming to shift 15,000 doses and push them above their vaccine targets for the Hounslow area – which has recently been involved in a surge testing and vaccination project due a spike in Indian variant cases.
But after a steady start, organisers sparked a vaccine free-for-all by throwing open the doors anyone aged over-18 – even though the national roll-out is currently focused on the over-30s.