All passengers arriving into the UK will have to quarantine for 2 weeks to prevent the 'second peak' of the coronavirus
- UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to outline a "road map" for the easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions on Sunday.
- It will include plans for a two week quarantine for all arrivals into the UK, in a bid to avoid a "second peak" of the coronavirus, The Times reports.
- The new quarantine measures are said to be coming into effect in June, while other restrictions such as limits on exercising outdoors may be loosened as early as next week.
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All travelers into the UK will have to quarantine for two weeks after they arrive as part of new plans to avoid a "second peak" of the coronavirus, The Times reports.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce the new measures in an address to the nation on Sunday, in which he will also outline a "road map" for the easing of lockdown restrictions.
Expected to come into force in early June, both visitors and UK residents arriving into the UK's ports, airports, and Eurostar stations would need to provide an address at which they plan to self-isolate for the two week period, per The Times.
It will reportedly exclude people returning from Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as key workers and lorry drivers bringing in essential goods.
Passengers will face questioning via spot checks and anyone defying the new measures could face a £1,000 ($1,240.60) fine and even possible deportation.
Schools across the UK and non-essential businesses closed their doors back in March as part of the current lockdown restrictions, though some of these may be loosened as early as next week.
The government is now said to be shifting its messaging from "stay home, save lives" to a new "stay safe, save lives" message. People may be allowed to exercise outside their homes more than once per day from next week, while schools may also begin introducing a phased reopening in June.
While Johnson's address is reported to include plans for easing lockdown restrictions, his spokesman stated on Thursday that any changes would be "very limited."
The country's chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty previously warned that the UK will have to adhere to some social distancing "for really quite a long time."
"Until we have those [a vaccine], and the probability of having those any time in the next calendar year are incredibly small and I think we should be realistic about that," he said.
The UK's coronavirus death toll passed 30,000 on Wednesday, which is currently the highest in Europe. It is second in the world only to the US, which has now reported more than 77,000 deaths.
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