Scottish and Welsh governments demand PM toughens travel rules further in response to Omicron variant

The Scottish and Welsh governments are urging Prime Minister Boris Johnson to toughen UK travel restrictions even further in response to the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

In a joint letter to Mr Johnson today, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford have called for an emergency COBRA meeting to be held “as soon as possible” due to the latest COVID-19 development.

So far six cases of the Omicron variant have been found in Scotland, with three detected in England.

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The prime minister has responded to the discovery of the variant – which is feared to carry a higher risk of reinfection – by reintroducing some restrictions and banning travel to most of southern Africa.

Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe were all added to the UK’s travel red list over the weekend.

But, under the new rules, fully vaccinated people entering the UK from all other destinations are only required to self-isolate until the provision of a negative result from a PCR test taken before the end of day two after their arrival.

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Ms Sturgeon and Mr Drakeford want those travel rules to be toughened further and used their letter to demand that people entering the UK be asked to isolate for eight days, with the reintroduction of a PCR test on day eight after their arrival.

Speaking at a news conference in Edinburgh on Monday, Ms Sturgeon said: “The incubation period for this virus is very often more than two days.

“So our view is it would be sensible, on a precautionary basis, for these travel rules to be tightened further.”

Ms Sturgeon added that she and Mr Drakeford were “proposing a tougher four-nations approach to travel restrictions”.

“Under our proposal, they would take a PCR test on day eight of their arrival, as well as on day two,” she said.

“We believe this measure would be more effective in identifying cases of this variant that result from overseas travel and therefore help us prevent further community transmission from imported cases.”

In their letter, Ms Sturgeon and Mr Drakeford also urged Mr Johnson to confirm that their devolved governments would receive funding from the Treasury “in the event more interventionist measures are required to respond to the public
health situation”.

“In our view, it would be better to consider this now, in advance of a potential escalation in the seriousness of the situation, to support effective planning,” they wrote.

“In particular, it is important for us to agree that if the conditions in a devolved nation were to require more significant interventions than in England, the agreed package of financial support would be available to that nation.

“We do not want to be in a position again where our public health interventions are negatively impacted by a lack of financial support, but can be switched on as required for England.

On the “potential threat” to the UK of the Omicron variant, Ms Sturgeon and Mr Drakeford added: “We need to work collectively – and effectively – as four nations to take all reasonable steps to control the ingress of the virus to the country and then to limit its spread.”

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