Almost a quarter of amber list travellers broke Covid rules

Almost a quarter of arrivals from amber list countries broke the Covid-19 quarantine rules, according to a survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

It said 23% failed to comply either with the requirement to isolate at home for 10 days or to complete the necessary PCR tests on days two and eight of their self-isolation.

The figures come from a survey of 848 travellers who arrived in the UK between July 12-17.

Almost a third (59%) fully understood the rules in place during quarantine, while the remaining 41% either misunderstood or were unsure of them, said the ONS.

The activity that was most likely to be mistakenly reported by respondents as allowed during quarantine was “to go to the shops” (15%).

One in six (17%) had contact with non-household members when they were supposed to be quarantining. Of these, 62% had contact with others while outside their accommodation and 45% had visitors to their accommodation.

Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, told the Telegraph: “These figures prove that it is not a watertight system, as has been seen in Australia and Canada, where self-isolation has not worked.”

He called for these measures to be “substantially diluted” before the next review of the traffic light system on October 1.

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