Priti Patel says 50,000 people per day are coming into the UK from abroad – but cannot give an estimate for how many might have coronavirus
- Priti Patel has revealed 50,000 people per day are now coming into the UK
- Home Secretary could not give an estimate for how many might have Covid
- She clashed repeatedly with the Home Affairs committee chair Yvette Cooper
Around 50,000 people are coming into the UK per day, Priti Patel has said – but could not give an estimate for how many might have coronavirus.
The Home Secretary revealed the figures as she was grilled by MPs on the government’s quarantine arrangements.
Ms Patel and her officials were repeatedly pressed by chair Yvette Cooper over whether they had any details of numbers of cases being imported into the UK.
The Cabinet minister revealed that 50,000 people per day are now arriving in the UK ‘across all modes of transport’.
That is up from fewer than 10,000 in April, reflecting the easing of lockdown since then.
Ms Patel said she had been ‘asking every day’ for the figures on how many people coming into the UK might be infected.
Around 50,000 people are coming into the UK per day, Priti Patel (pictured) has said – but could not give an estimate for how many might have coronavirus
Ms Patel and her officials were repeatedly pressed by chair Yvette Cooper (pictured) over whether they had any details of numbers of cases being imported into the UK
But she insisted the ‘only reliably estimate’ was that around 0.5 per cent of current cases in the country were from abroad.
‘That is effectively what I have been presented with in terms of the figure that they say is reliable,’ she said.
Ms Cooper said: It’s quite troubling that none of you seem able to explain just an assessment of the number of people likely to be coming into the country with coronavirus or a proportion of the 50,000.’
Questioned about the UK’s coronavirus quarantine rules for arrivals, Ms Patel told MPs 383,000 spot checks were carried out between June 6 and July 12 and the compliance rate was 99.9 per cent.
However, the overwhelming majority of the checks were carried out at the border, rather than on people who had already arrived.
Home Office mandarin Shona Dunn said around a fifth were follow-up checks carried out by Public Health England on addresses where visitors were staying.
Last week, it emerged not a single person had been fined by police in England and Wales for breaching the quarantine rules after arriving from abroad up until June 22.
But Border Force has issued three penalties.
Two British nationals were fined at Coquelles, near Calais, in northern France, on June 28, while a European was issued a penalty in Hull the following day.
The figures came as the measures for people returning to or visiting the UK from a list of countries, including popular holiday destinations, were relaxed.
The 14-day self-isolation policy for UK arrivals, bar a handful of exemptions, was introduced on June 8, with breaches punishable by fines of between £100 and £1,000.
It was met with fierce criticism over the impact on the UK’s travel, tourism and hospitality industries.
The 14-day self-isolation policy for UK arrivals, bar a handful of exemptions, was introduced on June 8, with breaches punishable by fines of between £100 and £1,000