Covid: Businessman still stuck in South Africa over quarantine 'failure'

Tim Cantle-Jones met South Africa's former deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka (left) during his business trips

A businessman stuck in South Africa for more than a fortnight because of changes to Covid travel rules does not know if he will be home for Christmas.

Newcastle-based Tim Cantle-Jones was halfway through a five-day business trip when the new rules were brought in to combat the Omicron variant.

Even after securing a flight, he has been unable to book a quarantine hotel.

"I may not be able to go home until the new year, which is just dreadful," the 61-year-old told BBC Radio Newcastle.

He has been trying to get home since the UK government announced it was adding 10 southern African countries to its travel red list on 26 November.

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

'Four hours to leave'

Mr Cantle-Jones, who runs a renewable energy company, says he is already £3,000 out of pocket through no fault of his own, and is being asked to pay another £2,200 for a hotel whenever he does return.

"I have got a massive issue with that," he said. "I came out here perfectly innocently, actually liaising with the government.

"If I had come out here in a red-list situation then fair enough, but I don't see why they should apply the quarantine costs when you have been caught up innocently in something not of your making."

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Mr Cantle-Jones said he awoke on 26 November to "loads of messages" on his phone about the change in travel rules.

"I only had four hours to leave the country and my flight wasn't until the Sunday," he said.

He received a text the next day from Emirates Airlines cancelling his flight home, and has not heard from the airline since.

When flights were reinstated a week later, he managed to secure one with Virgin Atlantic, but was then unable to book a place in a quarantine hotel.

'Bit of a panic'

"That's when my troubles really started," he explained. "The portal on the website said all hotels were booked, so I either had to re-book my flight or try again.

"On the Sunday it said bookings were available so I tried three times and got three different reference numbers to book a hotel. Each time I got an email to say the payment arrangements had failed."

Mr Cantle-Jones checked with his bank, which said the card he had used for payment was fine.

"So it must have been a glitch in the website because other people have had the same problem," he said.

When he subsequently tried to book using a different card, he was told all hotels were full. "So actually because of the failure of the quarantine arrangements, I haven't been able to get a flight home."

He was hoping to board a plane earlier this week, but could not complete a passenger locator form because of a lack of hotels.

A series of premium-rate calls to an offshore call centre in India did little to temper his frustration.

"You have a 20-minute wait time and when you finally speak to someone they don't understand what the issues are," he said. "I was cut off twice.

"I think the government set this up in a bit of a panic and the arrangements put in place to manage it haven't got robust systems."

'Keep checking website'

If the UK removes South Africa from its red list of countries at some point over the next week, Mr Cantle-Jones says he may be able to fly home on 23 December and share Christmas with his wife, four grown-up children and four-year-old grandson,

If the current red list remains, the earliest he will be able to fly home is 3 January, and will then need to spend 10 days in quarantine.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said the government was "rapidly expanding" its quarantine hotel capacity following its "immediate and precautionary" action against the Omicron variant.

"We have doubled the number of hotel rooms available and will continue to increase availability on a daily basis," the spokesperson added.

"Our advice remains that you should not travel without a quarantine booking and to keep checking the website with more rooms becoming available daily. There is currently pressure on quarantine hotel capacity. We understand some people have been unable to book.

"Those without a pre-departure test and quarantine booking will not be able to board a flight and could be subject to a substantial fixed penalty notice at the UK border."