Almost 5% of the travellers who had to isolate in the latest round of hotel quarantine have tested positive for Covid-19, MPs have been told.
Jonathan Mogford, the official in charge of border policy at the UK Health Security Agency, said there have been “unprecedently high” rates of positivity in the UK’s quarantine hotels.
About 5,000 people have had to isolate in government-mandated hotels, until the countries came off the red list at 4am on Wednesday (December 15).
Six African countries were put onto the red list on November 26, and five others were also added in the following days.
It is expected those travellers remaining in isolation will be able to come out of quarantine today as long as they have not tested positive, although there have been reports of several leaving this morning.
Speaking at a transport select committee meeting today, Mogford said at least 1% of those who had tested for Covid had the Omicron variant, but added the figure could be as high as 3%.
He told MPs that the number of complaints received has been very low despite some travellers sharing pictures on social media about inedible meals.
Earlier in the session, Dr Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, warned of a “very large wave” of the Omicron variant in the UK which could put health services “in peril”.
She told MPs on the committee that Omicron is “probably the most significant threat we’ve had since the start of the pandemic”.
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