People arriving in the UK from China will not have to self-isolate if they test positive for Covid-19, the transport secretary has said.
Covid cases in China continue to rise after Beijing’s abrupt decision to end most of its severe pandemic restrictions.
The UK government has said airlines will have to check passengers from China have a negative Covid test before departure, and travelers will have to show proof of their negative result. The UK Health Safety Agency will also start surveillance from January 8 where a sample of passengers arriving in England from China will be tested for the virus as they arrive.
The decision will only affect England, 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 whether travelers arriving in the UK from China who tested positive for Covid should be quarantined, Transport Secretary Mark Harper told LBC: “No, because the what we are doing is we are collecting this information for surveillance purposes.
“But look, one in 45 people in the UK has Covid at the moment.”
He added: “We manage Covid now by making sure we have very high levels of vaccination, so people who are at risk, older members of the community for example, should make sure they get their fourth vaccination of reinforcement this winter This is how we protect people from Covid, this is our main line of defence.
“China’s arrivals policy is primarily about gathering information that the Chinese government does not share with the international community.”
Harper, a vocal critic of coronavirus restrictions from the backbenches at the height of the pandemic, said the government had put together a “sensible and balanced proposal” to deal with the potential spread of Covid from China.
He continued: “This is one country, China, that does not share health data with the global health system that we expect everyone to do. That is why we have put this temporary precautionary measure in place as the China opens its borders.
“We are doing two things: we are requiring people flying from China to have a pre-departure test so they have to prove they are negative before they get on the flight, and when they arrive in the UK, the UK Health L ‘Security Agency will take a sample of passengers and test them.
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“This is so that we feed this information into our health system and can trace the virus coming from China.
“This, I think, is a very sensible and balanced proposal, which I think helps keep people in the UK safe, but doesn’t impose any restrictions on how people in the UK are able to operate.”
The transport secretary has recommended that people get vaccinated against Covid-19 and also said it was “rational” to wear a mask if they had to go out while ill.
Asked if he would wear a mask if he was sick with coronavirus, he told LBC: “First of all you should stay at home if you think you have Covid or you have the flu – actually the sensible thing to do is .don’t go out and spread it.If you do go out, obviously wearing a mask is very reasonable if you’re sick.
“But we manage these diseases now through vaccination. People need to get vaccinated against Covid, they also need to get vaccinated against flu. We’ve seen very high levels of flu this winter.”