Humza Yousaf rejects use of tagging for Scots travel quarantine breaches

Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf has ruled out the use of electronic tagging for breaches of quarantine rules as MSPs backed emergency laws on travel into Scotland.

Humza Yousaf has ruled out tagging

The measure has been introduced in some parts of the world to suppress the spread of the coronavirus, but Mr Yousaf said it would not be "necessary or proportionate" in Scotland.

Mr Yousaf told MSPs that the level of compliance with new restrictions for people entering the country has been "very high."

There have been no fixed penalty notices issued so far for breaches of rules which requires new arrivals in the country to self-isolate for 14 days and provide details of where they will be staying, the the Justice Secretary told Holyrood’s Health committee today.

"The message coming from Police Scotland has been that the self-isolation compliance has been very high," he said.

"They haven't issued any fixed penalty notice in regards to breaches of self-isolation."

Public health official also carry out spot checks by contacting 20% of travellers to provide guidance on quarantine and self-isolation.

Health committee convener Lewis Macdonald said some places such as Hong Kong have used electronic tagging to monitor new arrivals, but Mr Yousaf played down the prospect of such an approach in Scotland.

"It's not something I've considered or we've considered here in Scotland,” he said.

“One, the compliance is high so I'm not sure there's a need to go there.

"Secondly, the connotations we have in Scotland around electronic monitoring, I'm not sure people would take well to being tagged and electronically monitored in that regard.

"So I don't think it's necessary nor proportionate at this time. Obviously we always keep these measures under review, but tagging is certainly something we're not looking at country."

The committee backed emergency quarantine laws which apply to those arriving in Scotland from outside the Common Travel Area.

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