Around 10,000 home checks will be carried out every day to catch holidaymakers flouting the 10-day isolation rule on returning from an ‘amber list’ country.
Enforcement is being stepped up as ministers plea with British tourists stay at home – but it still appeared likely to be swamped by the huge number of flights taking off.
One calculation found that up to 54,000 passengers a day will flock to sunspots such as Spain, Greece, Italy and France, with a total of 1,300 flights scheduled to fly to amber list countries by Sunday.
Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, refused – four times – to say whether it was “responsible or irresponsible” to defy Boris Johnson and go on holiday there.
He also hinted the ‘green list’ of quarantine-free destinations will expand soon – just days after the prime minister warned holidaymakers to expect disappointment.
Asked if he was pushing for “the green list to be extended”, Mr Shapps replied: “Yes of course.”
Amid the Cabinet confusion over travel to amber countries, the Home Office said it could now carry out 10,000 home inspections a day, with 30,000 conducted last week.
Anyone found to be out of their house when required to be self-isolating risks a fine of up to £10,000 – although only around 600 are thought to have been imposed so far.
Asked if such people should expect a “knock on the door” when they return from holidays, Priti Patel told the Daily Mail: “Yes, people should.
“There is a service, provision is in place, capacity has been increased for that very reason. People will not go unchecked.
“Significant resources have been put in place – millions of pounds – in terms of the follow-up checking of people around their testing and making sure they stay at home. It has been stepped up.”
On BBC Radio 4, Mr Shapps was accused of “spin” when the government claimed that isolation-flouters would face tough action, because of the huge numbers of travellers.
He denied the claims of 54,000 daily passengers to amber countries, saying: “We are not seeing those numbers, I don’t know where they are coming from” – but was unable to provide any alternative figures.
Refusing to say such trips are “irresponsible”, Mr Shapps said: “We’ve said that you should only go to amber countries in exceptional circumstances, so that answers that question.”
Cirium, a global aviation data firm, has said the number of scheduled flights and passengers to Italy, Greece and Spain will increase by up to 200 per cent in the next three days.
They include a doubling to Spain, from 38 flights yesterday to 80 on Saturday carrying up to 16,000 travellers, a trebling to Italy, from six yesterday to 19 on Saturday carrying up to 3,400 people, and France, up from six to 10.
The seven holiday companies flying to amber countries between now and early June are Tui, easyJet, BA, Expedia, Lastminute.com, Virgin and Travel Republic, according to consumer organisation Which.
