What Boris Johnson will announce tonight: New arrivals to UK quarantined for two weeks

People who have contracted coronavirus will be asked to phone friends and family and urge them to self-isolate – as Boris Johnson prepares to unveil a ‘roadmap’ for the next stages in the UK’s coronavirus response tonight.

Officials want the new ‘self-tracing’ to be an integral part of the government’s ‘test, track and trace’ strategy, and will sit alongside the contact tracing that will be undertaken by 18,000 call handlers.

They will contact people who test positive for Covid-19 and get a list of people you have come into contact with. Those with the newly-developed app will then get an alert sent to others users they have come into contact with.

But ministers and officials think that people telling friends and family themselves could prove more efficient and help prevent spread of the deadly disease.  

Lord Bethell, the minister responsible for Covid-19 testing, told The Sunday Telegraph: ‘The feedback we get is that people want to help in the battle against Covid-19 and self-tracing gives them that chance to make a contribution and in a way that is trusted by their friends.’ 

It comes as  Boris Johnson will address the nation at 7pm this evening where he is expected to unveil a ‘roadmap’ for the next stages in the UK’s coronavirus response. 

The lockdown has already been extended to May 28, so it is not thought Mr Johnson will make any sweeping changes to the restrictions he put in place on March 23.  

But the PM has said he is keen to ‘get the economy moving’ while ensuring the country avoids a second wave of the disease that has already killed more than 31,000 people. 

Among the alterations to the strict measures imposed seven weeks ago the PM is expected to say you can leave the house more than once a day for exercise and garden centres will reopen from Wednesday.

The PM has said he is keen to ‘get the economy moving’ while ensuring the country avoids a second wave of the disease that has already killed more than 31,000 people

Britain today announced 252 more coronavirus deaths, taking the UK’s official fatality toll to 31,493. The daily death count is expected to rise when the Department of Health reveals fatalities in care homes later today

The PM is expected to drop the slogan ‘stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives’ in a televised address to the UK tonight at 7pm in an effort to reopen parts of the economy (pictured, new government pandemic slogan)

He is also expected to recommend people wear face masks in the office, on public transport and when shopping despite not making them compulsory in England.

The PM will drop the ‘stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives’ slogan, instead urging people to ‘stay alert, control the virus, and save lives’. A five stage alert system will be introduced to describe the country’s outbreak condition.

The PM will also say that people who have contracted the deadly disease should tell family and friends and ask them to self-isolate, to help limit the spread of the virus. 

And Mr Johnson will lay out new travel measures and say that all new arrivals to the UK will be quarantined for 14 days and face £1,000 fines or deportation if they fail to do so. 

The government has faced questions about why a similar measure had not been put into place earlier, with 15,000 travellers arriving at UK airports every day in April with no screening, including from virus hotspots like China and the USA. 

How will the travel quarantine plan work, who will it apply to and why has it only been introduced now? 

How will it work?

Travellers will have to fill out a digital form saying the address where they will self-isolating. This will then be checked by staff at airports, ports and Eurostar, although it is not yet clear which agencies will provide the staff. 

The ISU union – which represents borders, immigration and customs staff – has said passport e-gates will not be able to record passengers’ addresses so these will have to be recorded by other means.

Enforcement will involve spot checks on some of the addresses to ensure that people are abiding by the quarantine rules. Offenders risk a fine of £1,000 or being deported back to their home country.

Who do the rules apply to?

All travellers will have to go into quarantine, including Britons. The only exception will be passengers arriving from Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, although if these people have been elsewhere in the previous two weeks they may also have to go into self-isolation.

Key workers, such as lorry drivers, will not have to go into quarantine. The government has not yet said whether the same list of key workers it released to show who could go into work during the lockdown will apply to the travel quarantine scheme. 

How long could it last?

Boris Johnson is set to announce the plan in a speech to the nation tomorrow and it will come into effect from the start of June.

The measures will be constantly reviewed so it is not yet clear how long they will last. However, it is likely they will continue until late summer or early autumn.

Why now?

Around 15,000 air passengers have been arriving in the UK every day in previous weeks, with virtually none of them put into self-isolation.

Britain has been an outlier among other countries who have already introduced quarantines, such as the USA and Australia, leading to intense criticism of ministers.

The Government had previously resisted a 14-day quarantine for returning travellers, like that introduced by the USA, because it wanted to keep borders open to Britons could return home.

The government’s chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, has since admitted that the UK has imported people with coronavirus ‘from all over the place’. 

Coronavirus has killed more than 31,000 people in the UK alone and government officials are working to avoid a second wave.

Will I be able to go on holiday?

It is very likely the rules will be in place all summer. Therefore anyone going on holiday would have to abide by the terms of the quarantine.

In any case, many flights and holiday packages have already been cancelled and the Foreign Office is also advising against all overseas travel for an undefined period. 

The new regulations mean Britons hoping for a week in the sun in the summer months will have to book three-weeks off work to ensure they can isolate on their return. 

Key workers and travellers from Ireland will be exempt from the quarantine, MailOnline understands. The government has not yet revealed who will be categorised as ‘key workers’ and therefore be excused from self-isolating. 

Travellers will have to fill in a digital form giving the address of where they will be in quarantine. This will then be checked at airports, ports and Eurostar stations, although it is not yet clear which agency will provide staff to do this or on what database the forms will be stored on. 

The tourism industry is also expected to be hit by the ban, with Britons avoiding popular holiday destinations – such as Dubai or Spain – in favour of local stays for their summer holidays instead.

President of the Benidorm and Costa Blanca hotel association Hosbec Toni Mayor said: ‘If it’s true that that all travellers entering Britain would have to self-isolate for 14 days as the reports suggests, it’s going to be a body blow for UK aviation and tourism.

‘I don’t see international holiday flights resuming until July at the earliest. But if the quarantine were brought in and was still in place by July and August, I think we can wave goodbye to any hopes we had of British tourists returning to the Costa Blanca this summer.

‘No one would want to fly, I’m sure of it. No-one would want to holiday in Spain or Greece or anyway else.

‘For places like Benidorm that depends so heavily on UK tourists, it would be a disaster.’  

A hotel chain boss who did not want to be named told MailOnline: ‘I think from a UK perspective, the industry as a whole has been hit by Covid-19 and they will be the last ones to return back to normality.

‘With that in mind, the fact is that domestic travel will return first. People should go on staycations.

‘International travel will take nine to 12 months to return to normal.

‘Destinations such as Dubai will be hit [by the mandatory quarantine]. You would be remiss not to think your business would be losing about 30 to 40 per cent capacity. Not all resort facilities will be available.’

The Government had previously resisted a 14-day quarantine for returning travellers, like that introduced by the USA, because it wanted to keep borders open to Britons could return home. 

The government’s chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, has since admitted that the UK has imported people with coronavirus ‘from all over the place’.

Mr Johnson will say that garden centres can let customers visit again from Wednesday provided strict social distancing and hygiene measures are in place, Government sources said.

Cleaners and tradesmen such as plumbers who work inside people’s homes will also be urged to go back to work.

They can let customers visit again from Wednesday provided strict social distancing and hygiene measures are in place, Government sources said. 

Cleaners and tradesmen such as plumbers who work inside people’s homes will also be urged to go back to work.

He is also likely to emulate steps announced by Wales today, where limits on outdoor exercise are being dropped, and plans made for garden centres and libraries to reopen. 

From June, all arrivals in the UK – including returning Britons – will be quarantined for 14 days and face £1,000 fines or deportation if they fail to do so. Pictured: Terminal 2 arrivals at London’s Heathrow Airport on Saturday

How the government’s DefCon style five stage alert system for the UK’s coronavirus outbreak could work

Boris Johnson is expected to tell people to start wearing masks when they leave the house. Pictured: Two members of the public wearing masks in Slough last week

The Welsh government announced yesterday that garden centres in Wales will be allowed to reopen from Monday.

However, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon gave no indication that the ban in Scotland would be eased.

Only 20% of Britons oppose lifting the lockdown in three weeks time, new poll shows 

When asked if it was right to lift the lockdown now, 15% said it would be, 75% said it would be wrong and 10% said they didn;t know. Asked the same question about three weeks time,  46% said it would be right, 20% said it would be wrong and 34% said they don’t know

Significantly more Britons back lifting the coronavirus lockdown in three weeks time and only 20% would oppose it, a new poll has found.  

Just 15 per cent of the public, according to a new opinion poll, believe Prime Minister Boris Johnson should immediately lift the Covid-19 restrictions. 

The YouGov poll For Sky News questioned 1,644 British adults between May 7-8. 

When asked if it was right to lift the lockdown now, 15% said it would be, 75% said it would be wrong and 10% said they didn;t know. Asked the same question about three weeks time, 46% said it would be right, 20% said it would be wrong and 34% said they don’t know. 

People were told to expect only ‘nuanced changes’ in Northern Ireland at first.  

Garden centres are the first of the ‘non-essential’ retail outlets allowed to reopen.

It gives staff two days to install social distancing tape and Perspex screens on tills, The Sun reported.   

Operators have warned they face ruin if they cannot shift their stock as most of their annual revenue comes from planting season.  

Chairman of Dobbies Andrew Bracey, 53, said the present rules were ‘commercially unfair’ and ‘not a level playing field because everything that is being sold in garden centres is being bought in supermarkets and B&Q’, The Times reported. 

From Wednesday, they will be allowed to open across England, but tea rooms, playgrounds and soft play areas will have to remain closed. 

A Government source said: ‘We have heard the calls from garden centres, who are in a very difficult position because of the nature of their business. 

‘The fact they are largely outdoor open spaces means the risk of transmission is relatively low, so long as people follow the rules.’

B&Q opened all 288 of its UK stores on April 30 after it shut its doors on March 25 due to lockdown restrictions.   

This came after they reopened 130 of their stores and saw massive queues forming outside outlets in Watford, Edinburgh, Bristol and Swansea.  

Each branch has a designated queuing area outside which requires customers to keep two metres apart before entering the store.

There are two-metre directional arrows to guide customers inside the shop and sanitiser stations are provided to clean trolleys.  

The PM is expected to tell people this evening that they will be able to leave the house more than once a day for exercise

The PM is expected to recommend people wear them in the office, on public transport and when shopping despite not making them compulsory in England.

The Government is providing them direct to firms after the Cabinet Office paid for machines to make them.

‘Non surgical’ face masks will be the priority so better quality coverings are saved for frontline workers such as NHS staff.

Britain is out of step in its guidance, with the US and European countries including Germany, Italy and Spain recommending their use.

The Department of Health is expected to set out guidelines including material the items should be made from next week. 

A Government source told the Telegraph: ‘What we do not want is people to go on to websites and try to order clinical stuff which takes away from the NHS supply.’

A Cabinet minister said: ‘There is a theory that wearing masks might make people less vigilant, but this is about giving people confidence to return to work.

‘If it makes people feel safer using public transport then it is a good thing, so we are leaning towards it.’ 

Top experts from the prestigious Royal Society concluded the coverings – even home-made ones – can reduce the transmission of the deadly infection.

In evidence given to Number 10’s Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (SAGE), the experts described them as an ‘important tool’ for fighting COVID-19.

DELVE, made up of 14 leading experts from the country’s top universities, analysed the evidence on face masks and COVID-19.

It said infected people can spread the virus through talking or breathing, and up to 80 per cent of cases come from asymptomatic carriers.

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