THE SNP has hit out at a failure by the home secretary to respond to their calls for urgent health measures for people travelling to the UK - including health checks and quarantine measures at the border.
The SNP’s Joanna Cherry QC MP has once again written to the Home Secretary renewing calls on the UK to implement health and quarantining measures for people entering the UK from abroad at airports and other points of entry.
The party’s Shadow Home Secretary has ramped up pressure on the UK government to follow steps taken by other countries including Germany, South Korea, New Zealand, and Ireland, that have introduced tighter measures to respond to the pandemic – including 14 days quarantine for all arrivals.
The MP last month wrote to Priti Patel over concerns that hundreds of thousands of people entered the UK without appropriate checks but has yet to receive a reply.
READ MORE: SNP demands UK action after 8,000 a week still arrive in Scotland without health check
It came after the Herald on Sunday revealed last month that more than 8000 visitors a week are continuing to arrive in Scotland from home and abroad without health checks while the nation continues to be in lockdown and undergo social distancing in the coronavirus pandemic, it has emerged.
The Herald on Sunday also revealed how new analysis has revealed how South Korea has kept fatalities to 1.2% of the UK's and 1.8% of Scotland's death rate with the help of strict controls over foreign visitors.
The Herald was told the UK Government's position has remained that quarantining of visitors through airports and ports "would not make a significant material difference" to curbing the spread.
On Sunday the UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the idea of quarantining overseas arrivals was being examined by Westminster in a bid to further reduce the R-naught value – the infection rate between people.
The Scottish Government has raised the issue with the UK government, encouraging it to "carefully consider issues around testing and isolation of those coming into the country as part of any measures going forward.”
Commenting, Joanna Cherry QC MP said: “I wrote to the Home Secretary last month on the urgent need for the UK government to introduce coronavirus health checks and/or quarantine measures for people travelling to the UK. It’s disappointing that that correspondence has still not been responded to.
READ MORE: Government challenged on Scots open borders as S Korea benefit from strict controls
“The UK Transport Secretary has told the press that he is looking at tighter measures at airports – however we need to see urgent action now given that hundreds of thousands of people have entered the UK without appropriate checks in the months since the pandemic began.
“Other countries, such as Germany, New Zealand, South Korea and Ireland, have taken steps to strengthen checks - including asking all arrivals from abroad to self-isolate for 14 days, leaving the UK as an outlier when it comes to checks.
“This is an issue that will undoubtedly be concerning to many people across the UK and I urge the Home Secretary to engage with MPs and implement measures as soon as possible.”
Last week the home secretary said that enforced quarantine and thermal screening at the border were among possible measures being considered to prevent further spread of the coronavirus as she was challenged over the UK border policy during the pandemic.
Analysis at the start of April calculated that more than 130 countries had introduced some form of travel restrictions since the coronavirus outbreak began including screening, quarantine and bans on travel from high risk areas.
According to Pew Research Center analysis it meant at least 90 per cent of the global population lives in countries with restrictions on non-citizens and non-residents arriving from abroad, while 39 per cent live behind borders that are entirely closed to foreigners.
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