People arriving in the UK from China will not be required to self-isolate if they test positive for Covid-19, the transport secretary has said.
Covid cases in China continue to surge after Beijing’s abrupt decision to end most of its severe pandemic restrictions.
The UK government has said airlines will be required to check that passengers from China have a negative Covid test before departure, with travellers required to show evidence of their negative result. The UK Health Security Agency will also initiate surveillance from 8 January in which a sample of passengers arriving in England from China will be tested for the virus as they arrive.
The decision will affect England only, because travel is a devolved matter. However, all direct flights from China land in England.
The order is designed to align with US policy, and is being made because the government believes there is a lack of reliable data from China.
Asked on Tuesday if travellers arriving in the UK from China who tested positive for Covid would be required to quarantine, the transport secretary, Mark Harper, told LBC: “No, because what we are doing is we are collecting that information for surveillance purposes.
“But, look, one in 45 people in the United Kingdom have got Covid at the moment.”
He added: “We manage Covid now by making sure we have got very high levels of vaccination, that is why people who are at risk, older members of the community, for example, should make sure they get their fourth booster shot this winter. That is how we protect people from Covid, that is our primary line of defence.
“The policy for arrivals from China is primarily about collecting information that the Chinese government are not sharing with the international community.”
Harper, a vocal critic of coronavirus restrictions from the backbenches at the height of the pandemic, said the government had created a “sensible, balanced proposition” to deal with the potential spread of Covid from China.
He went on: “This is about a country, China, which isn’t sharing the health data with the global health system that we expect everybody to do. That is why we have put this temporary precautionary measure in place as China opens up its borders.
“We are doing two things: we are requiring people who fly from China to have a pre-departure test so they have got to show that they are negative before they get on that flight, and when they get to the United Kingdom the UK Health Security Agency will take a sample of passengers and test them.
“That is so that we get that information into our health system and we can track the virus that is coming from China.
“That, I think, is a very sensible, balanced proposition, which I think helps keep people in the UK safe but doesn’t put any restrictions on how people in the UK are able to operate.”
The transport secretary has recommended people get vaccinated against Covid-19, and also said wearing a mask was “sensible” if they needed to go out while ill.
Asked if he would wear a mask if he was ill with coronavirus, he told LBC: “First of all, you should stay at home if you think you have got Covid or you have got flu – actually the most sensible thing to do is to not go out and spread it. If you do go out, clearly wearing a mask is very sensible if you are ill.
“But we manage these illnesses now by vaccination. People should get vaccinated for Covid, they should also get a flu vaccination. We have seen very high levels of flu this winter.”
