THE SCOTTISH Government has launched an investigation after travellers from the US were “wrongly advised” to quarantine in a hotel despite a loophole in new rules.
Chun Wong and his eight-year-old daughter Kiernan, arrived at Edinburgh Airport on Monday on a connecting flight in Dublin and were set to spend 10 days self-isolating in a nearby hotel.
But Mr Wong was contacted by officials later to tell him he did not need to abide by the rules due to a loophole.
People flying directly into a Scottish airport on international flights have to self-isolate for 10 days in a quarantine hotel room, under new regulations taking effect on Monday.
Unless exempt, a passenger will have to pay £1,750 to quarantine in a room at one of six designated hotels in a bid to avoid importation of the virus.
In England, the UK Government will only require hotel quarantine for visitors from a “red list” of 33 countries designated as high risk, meaning travellers arriving from elsewhere could avoid it by entering Scotland via England.
It also applies to those flying from the common travel area, which includes the Republic of Ireland.
Visitors would still have to self-isolate for the 10-day period, but would not have to do so at one of the designated hotels due to a lack of agreement between Scottish and Westminster governments.
It is understood that Mr Wong and his daughter were the first to be taken to a hotel for quarantine in Scotland.
The Scottish Government is now examining what went wrong and has stressed “some initial challenges are to be expected” as the new system is put into action.
A spokesman said: “We are looking into the circumstances that led to Mr Wong being wrongly advised he needed to book a managed isolation package and would like to thank the family for their patience.
“This is a very new system, being implemented at pace, and some initial challenges are to be expected.
“However, once the error was identified, the family were contacted and advised they could make alternative arrangements for their self-isolation period.
“We are following up with the travel management company to ensure a full refund is provided to Mr Wong.”
As one of Scotland's first international arrivals since the new rules came into force on Monday morning, Mr Wong said he was happy to do "whatever it takes" to stay safe.
Referring to being told he no longer was required to isolate in a hotel, Mr Wong told BBC Scotland: “I received a call from reception saying a gentleman from the airport would like to talk to me.
“He said that since I landed in Dublin first and then got a connecting flight to here, I was not required to quarantine in a hotel.
“I still have to quarantine and do the self-testing kit on the second and eighth day, but they said it was an error on their part.”
Mr Wong added he could have left the hotel on Monday night, but decided to stay the night as he was tired.
Officials were said to be making arrangements to transport him to his home in Fife on Tuesday.
Linda Bauld, professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh, told the broadcaster: “Clearly everybody listening will realise that it doesn’t make sense.
“While I have huge sympathy for this family, just to emphasise, the fact that they’ve stopped for a few hours in Dublin means that the rules don’t apply, that doesn’t make sense to me from a public health perspective.”
Nicola Sturgeon has issued a warning over gaps in the current system for international arrivals, with difficulties arising from UK nations taking a different approach.
Speaking at her daily briefing yesterday, Ms Sturgeon said: “It would be better if we had that four nations approach, or at least a three nations approach where the border of the island that Scotland, England and Wales share, had the same provisions in place.”
The Scottish Conservatives transport spokesman Graham Simpson MSP said the family “should never have been put in a hotel in the first place”, adding that the quarantine scheme had been a “shambles”.
Scottish Labour transport spokesman Colin Smyth said the policy had “fallen flat at the first hurdle”.
He added: “Thrown together at the last minute, these travel plans were always going to struggle to be effective in any meaningful way, with no effective checks and balances in place yet.”
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