Furious Brits hit out at new quarantine rules forcing them to quit Swiss and Czech hols with just 40 hours notice
FURIOUS Brits have slammed the Government’s new quarantine measures which mean they need to return from abroad by 4am TOMORROW.
Holidaymakers in the Czech Republic, Jamaica and Switzerland will have to travel back to UK by early Saturday or face two weeks in isolation due to a rise in coronavirus cases in those countries.
Brits in Heathrow Airport have blasted the new measures which were only announced by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps yesterday giving them just 40 hours notice to book new flights.
Daniel Maree and Leisa Evans, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, decided to end their honeymoon to the Swiss Alps early, spending around £200 on new flights.
The couple, both 43, who were travelling with their four-year-old son, were due back from their break on Saturday, after the deadline, but decided to change their flight home before the Government’s announcement.
“We took a chance and said ‘Well, if it happens, it happens,” said Daniel.
“I would have lost two weeks of work – I’m self-employed, so no work, no pay. It would have affected us quite a bit, especially after an expensive holiday.
“We anticipated it so it wasn’t that much of a shock. Yeah, it’s a bit disappointing.”
Commenting on the Government’s handling of travel corridors policy, he said: “I’m sure they know beforehand that they are going to announce it, say a week later.
“So they might give people a bit more notice, which would have been probably better.”
Tourist Alexandra Harrison-Rowe fumed on Facebook that she is not “stuck” in the Czech Republic after the rule change.
She wrote: “We are currently stuck on hold to Ryanair, stuck in Czech Republic having come over urgently to see family.
“My partner is a Consultant anaesthetist so he’s SUPER excited to deal with 14 days worth of surgical list changes.
“There needs to be more notice, we should’ve been given AT LEAST 72 hours notice.”
Another traveller Rosie called the new quarantine rules “a shambolic abuse of power” adding “Get the bloody country working again.”
Saul Burban, 26, from London, rebooked his flight from Zurich to beat the impending quarantine deadline, bringing an early end to a trip to see family.
He flew out on August 16 and was due back at 8pm on Saturday, but managed to change his flight for £28.
He said: “We got the warning a couple of days beforehand. It would have been a massive drama if they’d only told us on the day or only mentioned it on the day.
“But there were rumblings in the press a couple of days before that so it sort of gave me a heads-up so I knew to keep an eye on it.”
Saul said he knew the risks of travelling, but added: “I hadn’t seen my family in about eight months and it was the first opportunity.”
He said he was “surprised” that the travel rules covering Switzerland were changing.
He said: “Everyone seems to be social distancing reasonably well there, they didn’t have masks in shops and stuff, but other than that it seems basically to be the same as here.”
Meanwhile, one traveller, who only gave his name as Jamie, actually booked two flights back home from a part-business and part-holiday trip to Switzerland.
The 36-year-old said: “I planned this trip a little while back and I pre-empted that there would be quarantine introduced due to the R rate so I pre-booked an extra flight.”
Jamie, who runs a landscaping business, said he could not afford to have to self-isolate for two weeks, spending £300 on Friday’s flight, on top of another booked for Sunday.
“I would have done anything I could do to get back in time,” he said.
He added that he was “not angry” over the Government’s decision, saying it has a “difficult job”.
“I took that risk going out there,” he said.
Jamie highlighted that the quarantine rules also affect people travelling for business as well as holidaymakers.
“I could see this coming so I wasn’t in a terrible situation, it’s just that obviously the flights get very expensive and it becomes very difficult for passengers,” he said.
He said he was “lucky” to be able to book an extra flight, but added: “I know many aren’t able to do that.”
In late-July, thousands were ordered to self-isolate at home for 14 days or face a £1,000 fine after Covid-19 cases in Spain rose to more than 1,000 a day.
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Many made it back with minutes to spare before the quarantine plans kicked in at midnight on July 25 — after being announced only four hours earlier.
And two weeks ago, holidaymakers attempted a mad dash home from France in a bid to avoid the two-week enforced quarantine.
One family even drove 12 hours across France in a bid to make one of the final Eurostar journeys before quarantine rules changed.
Adding to the chaos, British Airways hiked flight prices and Eurostar demand soared – sparking chaos at airports and terminals.