UK hotels begin hosting quarantined British and Irish travelers

The first travellers required to stay at quarantine hotels have begun arriving in the UK.

All British and Irish citizens and UK residents who arrive in England after being in a high-risk coronavirus country now have to self-isolate in hotels, the BBC reports.

They have to pre-book and pay £1,750 to spend 10 days in government-sanctioned hotels. The cost covers the hotel stay, transport and testing.

In Scotland, the rule to stay in a hotel applies to travellers arriving directly by air from all countries outside the Common Travel Area (the UK, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands) - rather than just those from the list of 33 countries.

One traveler newly quarantining at the Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel near Heathrow Airport said he was "feeling sad" at the prospect of isolating for 10 days.

Roger Goncalves, 23, from Belo Horizonte in Brazil, said: "I did my test for coronavirus. The test was negative. Why do I need to stay in my room for 10 days?"

Goncalves, a delivery driver who lives in London, flew into the capital from Sao Paolo, via Madrid in Spain because he needed to come back to work.

He said the £1,750 cost of his stay was "too high" and "crazy for 10 days", but described his room as "not bad" and said he had been told food will be left at his door.

Meanwhile, Zari Tadayon, 66, from north London, faces spending her birthday in isolation after flying in from Dubai, via Frankfurt.

Asked how she felt about spending 10 days in isolation, she said: "I feel horrible because I live here, I have my own individual home, and also I have some medical issues which I was hoping they would consider.

"I'm not prepared. I didn't bring books and stuff."

She added that she wasn't feeling happy "because tomorrow is my birthday and I would have wanted to be with my family... those are the rules, what can you do?"

In Scotland, the first passenger to go into quarantine hotel was Chun Wong, an American medical worker, who had travelled from America to Edinburgh via Dublin with his eight-year-old daughter Kiernan - to join his wife in Fife.

He told the BBC he would do "whatever it takes" to stay, adding: "Even though I got my Covid shot already, whatever it takes to make everybody safe."