FAMILIES returning from overseas holidays should expect a “knock on the door” from cops checking Brits are obeying the 10-day quarantine rule.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said enforcement has been stepped up to ensure officials have the capacity to carry out 10,000 home visits every day.
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When asked by the Daily Mail whether Brits should expect a “knock on the door” when they return home, she said: “Yes, people should.
“There is a service, provision is in place, capacity has been increased for that very reason. People will not go unchecked.
“Significant resources have been put in place – millions of pounds – in terms of the follow-up checking of people around their testing and making sure they stay at home.
“It has been stepped up.”
It comes as almost 300,000 Brits desperate for a holiday will fly to “amber list” countries by the weekend.
More than 1,300 flights are set to fly out to “amber” destinations such as Spain, Greece and Italy in the next five days – with 54,000 passengers jetting off each day, according to analysis for The Telegraph.
Brits flying to countries on the “amber list” must quarantine for 10 days when returning to the UK and take a pre-arrival Covid test and tests on day two and eight.
A Home Office source told the Daily Mail that 7,000 home visits were carried out by officials on Tuesday.
And the department has also established a new Isolation Assurance and Compliance service to monitor arrivals from countries on the “amber list”.
Anyone found to be out when they should be self-isolating risks a fine of up to £10,000.
But summer holidays in Europe are under threat as Brussels bosses could pull the plug on plans to reopen their borders due to fears over the Indian Covid strain.
Jittery Brussels bosses have delayed a decision on whether to throw open its borders to the UK as they wait to see if the killer variant takes hold in Britain.
One EU diplomat told Trending In The News: “The decision on Britain is now in doubt which was not the case until recently.
“Now we see the Indian variant spreading and we hear the warning messages from Downing St.
“That has given Member States pause for thought over whether now is the right time to lift the ban.
“It makes sense to kick the can down the road, to see the latest numbers and data to assess whether the surge has levelled off.”
And in a double blow, Boris Johnson warned Brits must have an “extreme reason” – like a funeral – to visit amber list countries.
The Prime Minister scrambled to try to clarify UK travel policy after a week of chaos and confusion.
Confused ministers have spouted mixed messages on where Brits are allowed to go on holiday.
Cabinet Minister George Eustice said you can visit “amber list” countries to see friends and family – only to be contradicted hours later by Health Minister Lord Bethell who branded all foreign travel “dangerous”.
Scrambling to kill off the confusion once and for all, Johnson told PMQs: “You should not be going to an amber list country except for some extreme circumstance, such as the serious illness of a family member.
“You should not be going to an amber list country on holiday.”
‘EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES’
And Health Secretary Matt Hancock furiously denied the government had stoked confusion over its travel advice.
Appearing at a Downing Street press conference on Wednesday, he said: “We have been absolutely crystal clear that you should not go to an amber or red list country on holiday.
“You should only go in exceptional circumstances.”
It comes after an airport chief warned Border Force problems meant passengers face “chaos” and “unacceptable” queues when returning to the UK.
Travellers arriving from red-list countries must pay £1,750 to stay 11 nights in a quarantine hotel.
But around 3,000 sun-seeking Brits a day are due to jet to Portugal after the country was placed on the Government’s Covid safe destination green list.
Of the 12 countries on the list, just four are open to the UK, which also includes Gibraltar.
Australia and New Zealand’s borders remain closed to Brits along with Singapore. The Faroe Islands, Falkland Islands and Brunei, also green listed, require quarantines on arrivals between 10 to 14 days.
On their return to England, those visiting green-list countries will only need a negative Covid test before returning to the UK, and one on day two – no quarantine is required.
