Downing Street has confirmed that travellers having to quarantine in hotels will be able to leave their hotel room - with permission.
While a No 10 spokesperson defended the level of restrictions in place, they said hotel staff are set to decide whether travellers are allowed out of their rooms.
This could be to get some fresh air for instance, or to have a cigarette or for some exercise.
“They are in line with other countries who are taking this approach," a No 10 spokesman said.
“We require repeat testing, travellers to quarantine inside their room for 10 days and we have strict penalties in places for anyone who fails to comply.
He continued: "Travellers must quarantine inside their room for 10 days, they are allowed outside for exercise with permission from hotel staff.
The spokesperson said the list of exemptions to staying inside the hotel room is “quite limited”.
However previously, the Department of Health denied people will be allowed outside to smoke, though it said it would be up to hotels to decide on exercise rules.
A government spokesman said: “Those quarantining in their hotels will not be allowed out of their rooms to smoke; hotel staff will have access to regular testing and suitable PPE.”
New guidance for people who will be required to stay in a quarantine hotel on their arrival in the UK was published by the government earlier this week.
Anyone who has visited or passed through one of 33 countries on the UK's 'red list' will need to self-isolate for a minimum of 10 days in a government-approved facility from Monday (February 15).
But with hotel staff left to decide on whether travellers can head outside, an Australian epidemiologist has warned it's a 'very risky' situation.
Professor Michael Toole, from the Burnet Institute in Melbourne, Victoria, suggested England could learn from his country, where preventative measures initially focused on stopping the spread of coronavirus by large droplets but had to be strengthened.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday that the precautions – such as wearing surgical masks, keeping people in their room and using hand sanitiser – did not prevent airborne transmission.
Prof Toole said there have been Covid-19 cases in the city where an infected guest opened their room door and “with the positive pressure this kind of fog of virus went out into the corridor, travelled down and infected hotel staff”.
Asked for his views on people being allowed to leave their rooms in England’s quarantine hotels while accompanied by guards, he said: “We’ve learnt that that is a very risky procedure.”
Australia’s borders are closed but those who can travel, and who are not exempt from quarantine rules, have to stay in a hotel for 14 days - but can't leave their rooms.
Meanwhile, Home Office minister Victoria Atkins has defended the UK's policy, saying it is “reasonable” to allow travellers quarantining in hotels a “gulp of fresh air”.
She told Today: “The hotel will of course be adhering to all of the very strict measures that we have in place in relation to social distancing and face masks and so on.
“So I think allowing someone a gulp of fresh air, apart from anything else, we know that being outside is less likely to transmit than being inside.
“But I think allowing someone a gulp of fresh air during a 10-day visit in a hotel, with all the very strict measures that we have, I think is reasonable – but of course we will keep these measures under review.”
Ms Atkins added: “We are confident that the measures that we have in place, ready to go on Monday, are strong and that they will help to protect our country against any of these new variants that are being found.”
