TEN YEARS IN JAIL IF YOU HIDE THAT YOU’VE COME FROM RED LIST COUNTRY

People will face up to ten years in jail if they lie on a passenger form to hide that they have come to the UK from a red list country.

“We are coming down hard on people who provide false information on the passenger locator form,” Matt Hancock told MPs.

“Anyone who lies on the passenger locator form and tries to conceal that they have been in a country on the ‘red list’ in the ten days before arrival here, will face a prison sentence of up to ten years.”

They include:

A £1,000 fine for any international arrival who fails to take a mandatory test.
A £2,000 penalty for any international arrival who fails to take the second mandatory test, as well as automatically extending their quarantine period to 14 days.
A £5,000 fixed penalty notice, rising to £10,000 for arrivals who fail to quarantine in a designated hotel.

As part of the new quarantine scheme, which begins on Monday, the travellers will be forced to undergo the quarantine in hotels or other Government-provided accommodation. They will be made to pay £1,750 per person for the hotel, transport and testing.

Arrivals will be taken to one of the 16 hotels contracted by the government, and they will have to stay in their rooms and will not be allowed to mix with other guests. They will then quarantine for 10 days, or longer, if they test positive.

Mr Hancock said there will be “visible security” in place to ensure people comply. He also warned that anyone who tries to conceal they had been in a country on the “red list” in the 10 days before arriving in England would face a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

The Government revealed the full list of countries affected by the new hotel quarantine measures on January 27. The list initially covered countries that were already subject to a travel ban due to concern over mutant strains, including South Africa, Portugal and South American nations.

On January 28, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps added more to the list including the United Arab Emirates, which covers Dubai. Burundi and Rwanda were also included.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had previously told the Commons that passengers returning from those countries will be “met at the airport and transported directly into quarantine”. Passengers will also be required to fill in a form explaining why their trip is necessary, with enforcement stepped up at airports to prevent leisure travel.

The red list is Angola, Argentina, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Eswatini, French Guiana, Guyana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores), Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Suriname, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates (UAE),Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.