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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Mikey Smith

Scotland orders 'managed quarantines' for arrivals from anywhere in the world

People arriving in Scotland will have to quarantine, regardless of which country they're from, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

It goes further than the system planned for the rest of the UK and could see arrivals being told to stay in a hotel.

The First Minister said a system of "managed quarantine" would be put in place for anyone arriving directly to Scotland.

Ms Sturgeon told MSPs: "The firm view of the Scottish Government is that in order to minimise the risk of new strains coming into the country, managed quarantine must be much more comprehensive.

"I can therefore confirm today that we intend to introduce a managed quarantine requirement for anyone who arrives directly into Scotland, regardless of which country they have come from."

The First Minister also said that she could not "unilaterally" impose such restrictions on people landing elsewhere in the UK and travelling to Scotland, but hoped the other administrations would work with the Scottish Government to reduce the number of people doing so.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon (Daily Record)

Boris Johnson announced plans to require people arriving from 30 "red list" countries to quarantine in a hotel for up to ten days.

But it's been reported that this measure may not be introduced until February 15.

But a minister earlier said it was not feasible to order all international arrivals in Britain to quarantine in a hotel in a drive to prevent the spread of coronavirus variants.

Junior education minister Michelle Donelan was asked on BBC TV about a suggestion that Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, could require all arrivals to stay in a hotel, rather than just those coming from high-risk areas.

"We will continually evolve our strategies but that is unfeasible and we have to be realistic about what we adopt and what we do. And what is deliverable as well," she said.

"(We have to be) targeted in our approach to making sure that we minimise the risk and identify those countries where we can see the risk. So a blanket policy that Nicola Sturgeon is proposing would not necessarily be as effective as the one we are suggesting, and also it is much more doable."

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