It is still illegal to holiday overseas and those
entering the country following international travel
must quarantine for a period of 10 days at a managed
quarantine site or the address listed on their
passenger locator form. Compliance is critical to
reduce the risk of Variants of Concern entering the UK.
Those quarantining at home may be visited by staff
employed on behalf of the NHS Test and Trace service.
These checks will be in addition to those already
carried out by police officers, who make up to 1,000
home visits per day.
NHS Test and Trace staff will not have any enforcement
powers, however, a referral will be made to the police
if NHS Test and Trace staff have a reason to believe
that an individual may be breaching quarantine rules.
Officers will consider enforcement action following
further investigation.
Individuals who fail to comply could be issued with a
fixed penalty notice, starting at £1,000 and increasing
up to £10,000 for repeat offences. Mitie was awarded
the contract to carry out the NHS Test and Trace visits
following a government procurement exercise.
These checks are in addition to the work by the
Isolation Assurance and Compliance Service to contact
everyone returning from non-red list countries that are
staying in England and Northern Ireland.
People are called in order to check their status and to
provide advice on the need to self-isolate and what to
do if they are experiencing symptoms. They are also
given information about taking tests on day 2 and day 8
of their self-isolation period. These calls are made
repeatedly, alongside text messages where necessary.
Any concerns can then be escalated to decide whether
further checks are needed.
Those returning from “red list” countries must continue
to stay in a managed quarantine site.
Last week, the government has set out a framework to
chart the safe return of international travel, which
could resume from 17 May at the earliest. This will see
a traffic light system categorise countries based on
risk alongside the restrictions required for travel.
