Home Office lays out quarantine rules

Chamber News

The Home Office and Department for Transport published the rules covering quarantine restrictions today.

The quarantine measures require arrivals to the UK to self-isolate for 14 days and will come into force on June 8.

The government insists they are “designed to prevent new cases [of coronavirus] being brought in from abroad and to prevent a second wave of the virus”.

All arrivals “bar a shortlist of exemptions” will be required to complete an online locator form, with contact and travel details and the address where they will self-isolate.

The UK’s Border Force will undertake checks and may refuse entry to any non-resident foreign nationals who refuse to comply.

The rules exclude travellers to and from Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

They will be reviewed every three weeks, with the first review by June 29.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “Protecting the public’s health and avoiding a second peak that overwhelms the NHS will always be our top priority.

“As we get the virus under control here, we must manage the risk of cases being imported from abroad. We owe it to the thousands who’ve lost their lives.”

She insisted: “These measures are informed by science, backed by the public and will keep us safe.

“We will take a number of factors into account within the reviews to satisfy that the risk of imported cases is low.”

These factors will include:

The rate of infection and transmission internationally and “the credibility of the reporting measures international partners have put in place”;

Levels of imported cases in other countries where there are more relaxed border measures;

The degree to which antibody and other testing methodologies prove effective in minimising the health risk.

Patel said: “We will also continue to take account of the impact on the economy and industry.”

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps confirmed the government is examining “arrangements known as ‘air bridges’ or international travel corridors which would remove self-isolation measures and safely open up routes to and from countries with low transmission rates”.

These would require agreement with individual countries, he said, adding: “We are working with the transport industry to see how we can introduce agreements with other countries when safe to do so, so we can go abroad and tourists can come here.”

Expedia adds Media Lounge offering free travel apps

Martin Ferguson

Martin Ferguson

The online travel company has unveiled a new feature called Media Lounge where Andy Washington, managing director of Expedia UK, said users would find premium apps and content to complement their travel experiences.

The company said the development marked a shift from driving transactions and only engaging with travelling consumers to offering a richer content-based service.

Until now Expedia’s app pushed out practical trip information, such as flight alerts.

Now it will, on the first Wednesday of every month, offer users a paid-for app free of charge.

The first app available in the Media Lounge is Over, a photo-editing app that enables travellers to personalise photos by adding text and artwork.

Outside of this offer it would cost £1.49.

In addition to the free apps, Expedia said it would recommend other apps, such as flight trackers and Wi-Fi finders.

“It is a way of making a trip easier, more relevant and enjoyable,” said Washington. “We’re in a digital age, and engaging with mobile and tablets users is so important.”

Washington said the marketplace was heavily defaulted towards Apple products. He acknowledged Android was growing in popularity but could not put a timeline on when the Expedia app would be available on this operating system.

– See more at: http://www.travolution.com/articles/2014/04/04/7704/expedia-adds-media-lounge-offering-free-travel-apps.html#sthash.aQlQe5SL.dpuf