UK “could introduce health-related travel restrictions”

Passengers could be stopped from leaving UK airports under new powers designed to control infection diseases, according to a report in today’s Guardian newspaper. The newspaper states that the Government is presently reviewing the country’s existing legislation in the light of the Sars outbreak last year, and that people could face “work and travel restrictions” imposed by health officials. Should Sars return, the newspaper reports, airport screening could be introduced in the UK, as it was in several countries during last year’s outbreak. The Guardian stops short of identifying the source of the story, but quotes a Department of Health spokesman as saying: “Our arrangements for dealing with infectious diseases, including Sars, are kept under constant review.”