UK begins 2-week quarantine for overseas arrivals

LONDON

Britain on Monday began imposing a mandatory 14-day quarantine on all overseas arrivals.

The rule requires all those arriving in the UK, including British citizens, to declare an address where they will self-isolate for two weeks, with those who fail to do so facing a fine.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the measure was designed to prevent a second wave of the novel coronavirus.

People arriving in England and Northern Ireland could face a fine of £1,000 ($1,268) if they failed to self-isolate over this duration. The fine will be £480 in Scotland but can soar up to £5,000 in the case of repeated breaches of isolation.

People arriving from the Republic of Ireland will be exempt from the quarantine.

Workers in land freight transportation and those who visit the country for health reasons also will not have to isolate.

The death toll in the UK officially passed 40,000 over the weekend as the country has the highest death toll in Europe, with some estimates placing the figure as high as 60,000.

The official figures show a trend of decline in new infections as the country takes steps towards normalization.

After originating in China last December, COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, has spread to 188 countries and regions across the world.

The pandemic has now killed more than 403,000 people worldwide, with total infections reaching over 7 million, while over 3.1 million have recovered from the disease, according to figures compiled by the US-based Johns Hopkins University.