Ministers are attempting to block the spread of new coronavirus variants in the UK amidst fears they may be more resistant to existing vaccines.
Later today the Cabinet will meet to discuss whether the system should be extended to all overseas travel.
This would effectively ban foreign travel for those unable or unwilling to pay £1,500 to quarantine in a hotel for ten days.
Under the proposal arrivals would be taken to a hotel from the airport by bus with security guards ensuring they remain.
However officials told the Daily Mail the move would be “logistically challenging” as there are only 10,000 hotel rooms situated near to Heathrow Airport, the UK’s busiest.
As a result the new system could take as long as three weeks to get running.
Currently around 8,000 people arrive in Heathrow each day though this is expected to fall dramatically if compulsory quarantine is introduced.
On Monday Boris Johnson warned additional measures are needed to “protect this country from reinfection from abroad”.
The Prime Minister added: “We need a solution that gives us the maximum possible protection against reinfection from abroad.
“You can see the risk. We have to realise there is at least the theoretical risk of a new variant that is a vaccine-busting variant coming in.
“We’ve got to be able to keep that under control.”
More to follow…
