Almost a quarter of amber list travellers broke Covid rules, says ONS

The survey tracked 848 arrivals to the UK over a five-day period in July

Arrivals into the UK during the pandemic (Kirsty O’Connor/PA) (PA Wire)

Almost a quarter of arrivals from amber list countries into the UK failed to follow Covid-19 rules, a survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has found.

Tracking a sample of 848 travellers arriving into the UK between 12-17 July, it found that 23 per cent failed to comply either with the requirement to self-isolate at home for 10 days, or to take a PCR test on days two and eight after arrival.

On top of this, only around three in five respondents (49 per cent) said they fully understood the rules around quarantine - the remaining 41 per cent said they had either misunderstood or were unsure of them.

The survey found that one in five (18 per cent) of the respondents quarantining had had contact with non-household members during their quarantine period, while 15 per cent reported that they had thought they were permitted to go to the shops while in self-isolation.

“These figures prove that it is not a watertight system, as has been seen in Australia and Canada, where self-isolation has not worked,” Paul Charles, CEO of The PC Agency, told The Telegraph.

"As a result, it is time for these measures to be substantially diluted before the next review of the traffic light system on 1 October and in line with the greater vaccination rollout. Because people now feel more protected, we need to move back to normality."

The sample of travellers was taken just before 19 July, when the UK government removed the requirement to quarantine for fully vaccinated travellers returning from amber list countries, which include top holiday destinations such as Spain, Greece and Italy.

Travellers still need to take a pre-departure Covid test and a PCR test on day two after their arrival.