New travel rules mean 'I can't afford to fly home'

Some UK residents in South Africa have said new travel rules mean they can't afford to fly home.

Ten southern African countries, also including Namibia and Zimbabwe, have been added to the UK's travel red list.

Arrivals to the UK from these countries must pay for and self-isolate in a pre-booked government-approved hotel for 10 days, costing thousands of pounds.

Hannah Day rushed to South Africa to take care of her son who was seriously unwell after a venomous snake bite.

The 25 year-old has since made a full recovery, and Hannah is due to fly back to the UK on 11 December.

She's worried because she can't afford a quarantine hotel. She can't do her job from South Africa either, where she was born and some of her family still live.

"I was unemployed for quite a while during Covid... And my son's anti-venom is going to be more than £5,000 - so I've got to get back," Hannah says.

She currently works as an employment advisor and is expected back on 13 December. Due to data protection reasons, she needs to work on her cases from the UK.

Hannah says that her company has been "fabulous", with her manager offering to lend her the money for the hotel and allowing her to borrow holiday against next year's leave allowance.

The one thing that would help? If South Africa was moved to the green list, or if self-isolation at home was re-introduced.

"I feel so much gratitude because my son is OK. There's no doubt I could not have flown here... but I can't wait to get back home."

New travel rules have been introduced following concerns about the newly identified Omicron variant of Covid.

Every traveller entering the UK now needs to take a PCR test within 48 hours of arrival.

Ten countries across southern Africa have also been added to the government's red list as a result. These include South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Angola, Mozambique and Zambia.

The only people allowed to enter the UK from these countries are UK or Irish nationals, or UK residents.

They will have to pay for and self-isolate in a pre-booked government-approved hotel for 10 days.

Airline bosses have had a mixed response to the expansion of the UK's red list.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Virgin Atlantic chief executive Shai Weiss said that the swift introduction of curbs on travel following the identification of the Omicron variant was "the wrong thing to do."

EasyJet boss Johan Lundgren, however, told the BBC on Tuesday that he was supportive of the move, but said that "there's a question mark around the blanket PCR testing" for infection.

"It's not obvious to me that if you're travelling in from a country… that doesn't have any reported cases of the Omicron, that you should assume that you should have to take an expensive PCR test," he said.

Sarah Brierly from Winchester in Hampshire says she is "worried, stressed and exhausted" because of the rule change.

She, her husband James and their three children flew in to Cape Town on Friday.

It was only on landing that they learned South Africa had been placed on the red list. The UK had temporarily suspended flights, so they couldn't just turn around and head back home.

They now face an extra bill of thousands of pounds. Finding accommodation for their return hasn't been straightforward either.

"We were unable to book a quarantine hotel. It's impossible to book online for a family of five, and there is no availability until 6 December according to [the helpline]".

"We have still not received any response to our application for quarantine exemption, based on the fact that we did not choose to travel to a red list country."

On Wednesday, direct flights resumed into the UK from South Africa.

Keen to get back to school and work as soon as they could, the Brierly family boarded their British Airways flight to London Heathrow on Wednesday, despite having no quarantine facility booked for when they reach England.

Sarah came up with a solution to avoid wasting further time: Catch a connection from London to Heathrow to France and self-isolate there. But, they're still not sure where they will stay.

"We hope and pray we can go to Paris and get a cheap Airbnb to wait out our 10 days, allowing the children to resume some remote learning," Sarah says.

France requires vaccinated people coming in from South Africa who are aged 12 or above, to show proof they have been jabbed.

The Department of Health and Social Care says it's rapidly expanding hotel quarantine capacity.

It has advised passengers who are unable to book to check back regularly or try and book for a different arrival date.