Gatwick quarantine: Travellers from red-list countries were herded together 'with zero social distancing' after quarantine hotel fire alarm goes off

Travellers who were staying at a quarantine hotel were woken during a fire alarm before being packed together with 'zero social distancing'. The travellers form red-list countries were initially told not to leave their rooms but ended up mixing together after being evacuated.

The guests were pictured huddled together in large groups even though they were told they must isolate from others, at the four-star Hotel Sofitel at London Gatwick on Thursday morning.

Panicked patrons, both young and old, clutched towels as they were squeezed together in the car park as hotel staff desperately tried to grapple with the situation. Those mixing outside included guests who had arrived from red-list destinations.

Furious travellers, many of whom have paid nearly four thousand pounds to quarantine under the latest Covid restrictions, slammed the lack of social distancing and said they believed Thursday morning's chaos could end up being a 'superspreader event'.

Eyewitnesses told the Mail Online they were initially told to stay in their rooms, despite the fire alarm's siren blaring around them, before eventually being allowed to leave 15 minutes later by security. They were also told the emergency services were eventually called and restored control of the situation after around an hour.

This situation comes as a legal challenge has argued that coronavirus hotel quarantine is a “fundamental breach of human rights”.

People entering the UK from 10 countries in southern Africa must currently spend 10 full days in a quarantine hotel, at a cost of £2,285 for solo travellers.

On Monday, Owen Hancock, 35, and Emily Mennie, 30, were due to enter hotel quarantine on their return from a break in South Africa. They say they were left stranded when the country was added to the UK’s red list due to concerns about the Omicron coronavirus variant.

The couple, from Tooting, London, were visiting Ms Mennie’s family for the first time since the start of the pandemic when their travel plans were thrown into chaos.