There has been “unprecedentedly high rates” of positive Covid cases among travellers quarantined from the red list countries, MPs have been told.
It comes just a day after UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced that Hotel quarantine for travellers arriving in England will be abandoned.
The Cabinet minister told the Commons that the 11 countries on the red list will be removed at 4am on Wednesday.
However, UK Health Security Agency official Jonathan Mogford told the Transport Committee this morning: “The latest figures are suggesting that nearly 5% of people in the hotels are positive.”
Of those, “at least 1% are Omicron-positive but probably as much as 3%”.
There have been “roughly 5,000 guests through in this round of red listing” – 5% of that figure would mean around 250 people with Covid-19.
Mr Mogford said complaints about poor food had been raised with the hotels.
“We share the concerns of what we have seen on social media and those have been picked up with the hotels directly.”
It comes after a senior official said travellers currently detained in quarantine hotels will be told later today when they will be released.
Jonathan Mogford, the senior responsible officer for the managed quarantine service at the UK Health Security Agency, was questioned about reports some people were fleeing the hotels after the red list was scrapped in England at 4am.
Mr Mogford told the Commons Transport Committee: “The standard practice has been that if you have started hotel quarantine you need to complete it.
“For this de-listing, where Omicron has moved unexpectedly fast, we want to release people early.
“We are sorting out the arrangements for that as quickly as possible, we need to make sure we are not releasing Covid or Omicron-positive guests immediately.”
Despite complaints on social media he said there was “decent quality” accommodation and food.
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