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A Kent MP says that government had to act decisively in imposing new Spanish holiday quarantine rules but appreciated it was "really really hard" for travellers.
Care minister Helen Whately, who is MP for Faversham and Mid-Kent, was speaking on breakfast television news this morning as concerns grow over the impact of the latest regulations which, as of midnight last night, require travellers returning to the UK from Spain to self-isolate for two weeks.
The government clampdown follows a spike in new cases in Spain but has thrown holiday plans into chaos and hit unsuspecting UK tourists already abroad who now face being in lockdown on return and possible job and pay implications.
It is also hugely disrupting the travel industry, which was just getting back on its feet, and the holiday plans of thousands of UK tourists.
But Mrs Whately says she think the public will welcome the government's decisive action to protect the UK.
"It was the right thing to do when we saw data coming in from Spain at the end of last week showing the rates of Covid going up rapidly," she told both BBC Breakfast and Sky News this morning.
"I know it's hard for the many people who are on holiday but there are thousands of people in Spain who will be coming back and we have got to make sure we keep the coronavirus rate down in the United Kingdom."
KMTV's Joe Coshan reports on the restrictions
She said the government was asking employers to "be supportive" of staff who were having to quarantine.
Mrs Whately said the government had taken advice from the Chief Medical Officer, Public Health England and the Joint Bio-Security Centre and had to make the decision to act "very rapidly and decisively" to impose the quarantine.
She added: "After all the hard work and sacrifices that were made during our lockdown period we are now able to cautiously reduce some of those restrictions and we cannot take the risk of going back to a situation where you have rising rates of Covid happening across the country."
Questioned about how UK travellers can now make judgements about visiting other countries in the coming weeks and months, Mrs Whately said: "What I would say to people looking at going abroad is that I realise it's really, really hard but look at the Foreign Office advice, check your travel insurance and the conditions with your operator. You have to be mindful that we are in a global pandemic and we have to continue to keep the situation under review."
But Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who announced the new quarantine regulations, says he cannot guarantee similar sudden measures would not be introduced for other countries where new spikes in infections may occur.
She also had to defend including the popular Balearic Islands and Canary Islands in the quarantine zone, despite them having significantly lower levels of Covid than mainland Spain.
Mrs Whately also responded to questions about the government's new strategy to fight obesity which health experts now say significantly increases hospitalisation and fatality rates in coronavirus victims.
She said: "Obesity is one of the country's biggest health challenges with two-thirds of people overweight.
"And what we have seen with Covid is a much greater risk of serious complications and death.
"We know as nation that it is something we must tackle but also that it's really hard to lose weight.
"So people want help and support and that's what the government is here to do."
Kent nutritionist Julie Clark has welcomed the government's plans to ban junk food adverts
She was questioned on whether the new government rules, including to removing junk food advertising before 9am and banning two-for-one offers on junk food, would be effective when its own research showed it would only remove 1.7 calories day from a child's diet.
But Mrs Whately insisted there was evidence that junk food advertising influenced children's eating habits.
She said the government's new policy to address the problem was "big, bold and ambitious".
She believed many people would now "reset" their lifestyles and make different choices.
But she refused to be drawn on claims GPs will get extra pay for referring patients to slimming clubs.
