Travelers arriving in Britain from abroad will have to take two coronavirus tests during quarantine, the government is expected to confirm on Tuesday.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock is due to announce that people told to isolate at home will be required to get a test two and eight days into a mandatory 10-day quarantine period.
A spokesman said, “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.”
The announcements on the new quarantine regime would be made in parliament later on Tuesday confirmed the Environment Secretary George Eustice.
“We have to be ever mindful of the risk of other variants entering the country,” he told BBC radio.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has been under pressure to tighten rules for international travellers, following criticism the regime was too lax.
From February 15 new mandatory hotel quarantine rules are due to start for travelers returning from dozens of countries deemed of “high risk” from Covid-19.
All UK citizens and permanent residents returning from countries on a travel ban list to self-isolate in a government-approved facility for 10 days will be required in the new rules.
Other visitors from the 33 countries currently on the list, which includes all South American nations and South Africa, are currently barred from visiting Britain under virus lockdown rules.
