Wales will have no designated quarantine hotel under new Covid-19 travel measures

Wales will have no designated quarantine hotel under new travel measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

All travellers arriving in the UK from February 15th will have to take two coronavirus tests while they quarantine, but those heading to Wales have to spend 10 days in England first.

The UK government says it has introduced the measures in order to try to prevent new strains of the disease from entering the country, and the Welsh Government has confirmed that the new testing rules will also apply for Wales.

The Welsh Government told ITV Wales: “We have agreed to a four nation approach, and will be putting in place the same arrangements in Wales as the UK Government is doing for England.

“This will include all people returning to Wales from 15 February being required to book and pay for tests before they travel.

“This will be done through the UK portal, whether a person has been in a red list country or not.”

‘Red list’ 

It added: “People returning to Wales from red list countries are doing so through other ports in the UK, primarily via England.

“From 15 February, all arrivals in England will be required to isolate in designated hotels.

“This includes anyone planning to travel on to Wales, and they will need to enter a designated hotel for quarantine in England. This will need to be booked before travel.”

According to the UK’s Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) the move is designed to provide a “further level of protection” and to enable the authorities to track new cases more effectively.

All those arriving in the UK will have to isolate for 10 days. It is expected they will be told that they must get a test two and eight days into their quarantine period.

A spokesperson from the DHSC said: “Throughout the pandemic, the Government has put in place proportionate measures, informed by the advice of scientists, that have led to some of the toughest border regimes in the world.

“Enhancing our testing regime to cover all arrivals while they isolate will provide a further level of protection and enable us to better track any new cases which might be brought into the country, and give us even more opportunities to detect new variants.”