UK residents returning from coronavirus hotspots abroad will have to quarantine in hotels from 15 February, government sources have told the BBC.
Owners will be asked to provide accommodation for more than 1,000 new people every day, documents suggest.
Passengers will have to stay in their rooms for 10 nights, with security guards accompanying them outside.
Labour called the measures "too little, too late" to deal properly with new overseas strains of Covid.
"It is beyond comprehension that these measures won't even start until 15 February," said shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds.
Speaking on BBC's Question Time, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the government was "aiming to see" 15 February as the date new hotel quarantine plans for arrivals into the UK will be introduced.
Asked why it had taken so long to implement he said: "We want to make sure that we get this right so that when people go to those hotels, the hotels are in place, the transport is in place."
The airports thought to be under consideration as locations for quarantine hotels are Heathrow, Gatwick, London City, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
The rules are expected to apply to UK nationals and residents returning to the country from 30 "red list" Covid-19 hotspots, including several South American and African countries where new Covid variants have detected in large numbers of people.
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of the industry body UK Hospitality, said bosses and staff were ready to provide assistance "as and when hotels will be needed".
A further 915 people have died within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test in the UK, according to the government's daily figures.
This brings the total number of people to die within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test to 110,250.
Who will pay?
According to documents seen by the BBC, the government wants quarantine hotels to be made "available on an exclusive basis".
Guests will have three meals a day - hot or cold - in their rooms, with tea, coffee, fruit and water being available.
Security will "accompany any of the arrived individuals to access outside space should they need to smoke or get fresh air", one document says.
One hospitality industry source said the government estimated the cost at about £80 per night per person.
"If they are taking rooms for 1,425 passengers per night until 31 March, that is a bill of £55m," they added.
Government sources confirmed to the BBC that travellers coming home will be expected to pay for the costs of their accommodation in quarantine hotels.
Ministers are also likely to increase the fines for people who break the rules around quarantine.
Hotel quarantine is already in place in countries including New Zealand and Australia.
Most foreign nationals from high-risk countries already face UK travel bans.
Mr Thomas-Symonds said: "We are in a race against time to protect our borders against new Covid strains. Yet hotel quarantine will come in to force more than 50 days after the South African strain was discovered."
Labour has called on the government to extend hotel quarantining to those returning to the UK from all countries, not just the areas on the "red list".
But the Conservatives described the plan as "implausible", arguing it would mean putting around 20,000 people in hotels every day.
Have you recently entered the UK from a hotspot such as South Africa? Are you planning to travel soon? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiL2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3VrLXBvbGl0aWNzLTU1OTM1ODc10gEzaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmJjLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvYW1wL3VrLXBvbGl0aWNzLTU1OTM1ODc1?oc=5
2021-02-04 22:00:00Z
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