All visitors travelling to Scotland will have to quarantine for ten days at a designated hotel. Scottish transport secretary, Michael Matheson has confirmed the details for the new quarantine on arrival protocol. A total of six hotels with a combined capacity of 1,300 rooms have been designated for quarantining travellers. These hotels are at a short distance from Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports. The cost of the stay,£1,750 per person, will have to be met in advance by travellers. Those involved in essential supply chains for goods coming into Scotland will not be required to isolate.

Matheson has also added that the final cost for people who are not travelling alone is still being worked out. Details for a managed isolation welfare fund is also being developed for those who cannot afford the set cost. Only visitors from the Common Travel Area, which includes Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Ireland, will be exempt from the rules.

Scotland’s new rules more stringent than those of England 

Scotland’s new rules are more stringent than England. Travellers arriving in England will only have to quarantine if they arrive from the designated ‘red list’ countries. Further, in Scotland, existing travel exemptions will be strengthened. Overseas training for elite sportspeople to athletes and coaches preparing for the Olympics and Paralympics, will all be limited. 

Matheson said: “To manage the risk of importing new variants, and to give vaccine deployment the best chance of bringing us closer to normality here in Scotland, we have to place further limits on international travel. The UK government has only committed to adopting this for travellers returning from ‘red list’ countries. However, we know that is not sufficient and we will go further. The clinical advice is clear that a comprehensive system of managed quarantine is essential to minimise the impact of new Covid-19 variants.”

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