Travellers arriving in the UK could end up paying a bill of up to £1,500 as the Government have confirmed people from certain countries will be forced to quarantine in a hotel.
Individuals travelling from certain "red list" destinations will need to isolate in a hotel for 10 days at their own expense upon return to Britain.
There has been much debate over which destinations the strict new quarantine rules will apply to, but senior Government ministers met on January 26 to approve the plan.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "We will require all such arrivals who cannot be refused entry to isolate in government-provided accommodation, such as hotels, for 10 days without exception.
"They will be met at the airport and transported directly into quarantine," he added.
It comes as Home Secretary Priti Patel said that "going on holiday is not a justifiable reason" for travel at this time.
Which countries require hotel quarantine?
Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that a total of 22 countries will be on the "red list," but exactly which nations are on the list is yet to be announced.
A travel industry source told the PA news agency that the list of destinations this new rule will apply to includes all of South America, southern Africa and Portugal.
Kenya, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Nigeria could also be added.
The Department of Health and Social Care will share further details on this approach next week, said Patel.
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"Discussions with hotel chains are underway" regarding how hotel quarantine will work.
It was also confirmed that the UK's ban on leisure travel will be enforced at airports and ports.
The PM said: "I want to make clear that, under the stay-at-home regulations, it is illegal to leave home to travel abroad for leisure purposes and we will enforce this at ports and airports by asking people why they are leaving and instructing them to return home if they do not have a valid reason to travel."
And the Home Secretary added: "I am announcing further action to strengthen the health measures we already have at the border, but to reduce passenger flow so that only a small number of people for whom it is absolutely essential to travel are doing so and therefore reducing the risk to our world-leading vaccine programme."
She explained passengers will have to declare why they want to travel which will be checked by airlines to limit non-essential travel.
Physical checks, as well as address checks, will be carried out "to ensure that people are compliant with the self-isolation rules".
There will be 1,000 targeted follow-up visits a day, Patel stated.
She continued: "We will continue to refuse entry to non-UK residents from high-risk countries which are already subject to the UK travel ban…
"Measures are always under review."
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