(Source: The Guardian)
Testing passengers for Covid-19 on arrival in the UK is “not a silver bullet”, the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, has said, as Downing Street continues to come under pressure over quarantine plans.
Dowden said people could initially test negative before the virus incubated and then risk spreading it afterwards, meaning the government was “not convinced” the method would be sufficient.
His comments came after the boss of Heathrow airport urged the government to allow a trial in which passengers would be tested on arrival and then again several days later, allowing a significantly shorter quarantine period, in an attempt to save the summer season.
The tourism industry was plunged into disarray when the UK government advised against all non-essential travel to Spain on Saturday and, with just a few hours’ warning, imposed a 14-day quarantine for people arriving from the country.
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