Coronavirus: Airport testing no 'silver bullet' but quarantine could be cut to seven days, Grant Shapps suggests - Sky News

Airport testing is not a "silver bullet" that will end the need for quarantining, the transport secretary has told Sky News.

But Grant Shapps confirmed the government was looking at cutting the amount of time travellers returning from higher-risk countries need to self-isolate for from 14 days to seven.

Ministers are facing pressure from airports and other aviation firms to "get a grip" on the quarantine policy due to the severe economic effects still faced by the industry.

Image: Airport testing is already done in France

Mr Shapps said "I hear the calls", but admitted: "I'm afraid this coronavirus is just not simple to navigate around and we have to do our best."

He pointed to France, where he said they had put in airport testing but now "realised the same thing".

Advertisement

"It isn't actually the silver bullet solution to this," Mr Shapps told the Kay Burley show.

"What you've got to do is being able to test further down the line with a period of quarantine as well."

More from Covid-19

Image: The quarantine length could be cut in half

Mr Shapps did shed light on potentially cutting the quarantine period, saying: "You probably have to have some kind of quarantine period here, perhaps seven or eight days, maybe a test then.

"But these are the thing we're working through at the moment."

Glyn Jones, chief executive of Southend Airport, said an "absence of clear advice from central government" was continuing to "erode consumer confidence".

Image: Glyn Jones urged politicians to 'put down the sledgehammer' and 'pick up the scalpel'

While ministers mull cutting the quarantine length, he urged them to act quickly to "put down the sledgehammer" of adding whole countries to the list and "pick up the scalpel" by working on a route-by-route approach.

Wales' decision last night to put several Greek islands on its quarantine list instead of the entire country "does demonstrate this can be done", Mr Jones added.

Image: Heathrow Airport has created its own on-site testing facility

Heathrow Airport has already set up a new on-site testing base in the hope of letting people get a swab as soon as they land and have the result sent to them within seven hours.

It hopes those who test negative and then do not subsequently get coronavirus symptoms could leave quarantine five to eight days after landing.

Aviation is the sector that has seen the second highest number of job losses due to the pandemic, with at least 32,015 people having lost their jobs already since COVID-19 broke out.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMikAFodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy1haXJwb3J0LXRlc3Rpbmctbm8tc2lsdmVyLWJ1bGxldC1idXQtcXVhcmFudGluZS1jb3VsZC1iZS1jdXQtdG8tc2V2ZW4tZGF5cy1ncmFudC1zaGFwcHMtc3VnZ2VzdHMtMTIwNjMyMzfSAZQBaHR0cHM6Ly9uZXdzLnNreS5jb20vc3RvcnkvYW1wL2Nvcm9uYXZpcnVzLWFpcnBvcnQtdGVzdGluZy1uby1zaWx2ZXItYnVsbGV0LWJ1dC1xdWFyYW50aW5lLWNvdWxkLWJlLWN1dC10by1zZXZlbi1kYXlzLWdyYW50LXNoYXBwcy1zdWdnZXN0cy0xMjA2MzIzNw?oc=5

2020-09-04 08:48:45Z
52781041488576