Woman collapses at Heathrow airport ‘after a 90 minute argument over hotel quarantine’ amid fears of 7 hour Covid queues

A WOMAN collapsed at Heathrow "after a 90-minute argument over hotel quarantine" amid fears airport queues could last more than seven hours due to Covid checks.

The passenger was seen laying on the floor at the border control gate with a member of staff at her aid as checks on traveller's tests and quarantine plans create massive queues to get into the UK.

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Footage posted online on Monday afternoon shows the collapsed woman being tended to by staff - as many more passengers wait to be cleared through the border.   

The person who recorded the ordeal claims the passenger had collapsed following a seven-hour wait for entry clearance.

It is understood that the woman had arrived about 10.30am.

She then collapsed about 1pm after a 90 minute argument with Border Force officials.

The individual did not have the appropriate paperwork for hotel quarantine, the airport said.

This comes as aviation experts have warned that the closure of e-passport gates as well as Passenger Locator Forms and Covid test checks could result in chaos when travel abroad resumes.

Border Force are currently running through all the checks manually, including reading every traveller's mandatory form, confirming they have a negative test and making sure they've booked their hotel quarantine if required.

And the Home Office has said that delays can be due to passengers not filling in the correct forms while workers undertake the "vital checks to keep us all safe."

Lucy Moreton, from the Immigration Services Union, said: "If they don’t digitise the e-gates and they still require us to do 100 per cent checks, then yes the queues could potentially at busy times become even worse than they are now.

"Six or seven hours is not impossible."

CEO of Airlines UK Tim Alderslade added: "Manual checks are time-consuming and will become increasingly challenging as passenger numbers increase, as we hope they will. This is why a fully digitalised passenger locator form is the way to go."

BORDER CHAOS

In January, huge queues at the airport resulted in social distancing problems, with one passenger saying it was "horrific".

And passengers travelling through Heathrow airport may face even longer queues at passport control as Border Force staff have voted to go on strike.

The Public and Commercial Services Union, which represents Border Force staff, is to strike over the introduction of a fixed rota which means staff can no longer swap shifts with colleagues or request to work certain days.

The union balloted members, with 96 per cent of those who voted in favour of strike action. 

A Heathrow spokesperson said: “When additional measures were implemented at the border, we were clear with the Government that they must support the Border Force to ensure appropriate numbers of officials are on duty to minimise queuing in the Immigration Hall.

"It is deeply regrettable that Border Force has been unable to provide adequate resourcing, despite our many attempts to highlight the implications of not doing so.

"Leaving arriving passengers to queue for hours is unreasonable and no airport has the space to hold arriving passengers in socially distanced queues for over four hours, as has been the case in recent weeks.

"While our teams are on hand to support Border Force, it is their and the Government’s responsibility to ensure that their processes are properly managed and efficiently carried out without impacting passenger welfare.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are in a global health pandemic – people should not be travelling unless absolutely necessary.

“Border Force has ensured it has the right level of resources to check that passengers are compliant with our border health measures, but queues and wait times will currently be longer as we undertake these vital checks to keep us all safe.

“Delay also occur due to the fact that some passengers have not completed the necessary requirements to enter the UK, such as purchasing Covid testing packages or booking their hotel quarantine in advance.”