PCR test prices are set to soar in the wake of the new omicron rules amid warnings that private companies will “hike their prices”.

Some providers have already started to raise their prices in the past 24 hours, according to Paul Charles, chief executive of The PC Agency, a travel consultancy.

Speaking at the Downing Street press conference on Saturday, the Prime Minister insisted that “we are not going to stop people travelling”. 

But he said that all passengers arriving from abroad will now have to take a PCR test by the end of their second day after reaching the country and self-isolate until they receive a negative result.

Mr Charles, a former Virgin Atlantic executive, told The Telegraph: “You can guarantee test providers will be hiking their prices at any sign of increased demand.

“The test providers are in the private sector and they are basing their prices on demand. If demand goes up they will put their prices up.

“There is no regulation and no major oversight of private test providers. The testing industry is worth well over a billion pounds and has grown up at very short notice.”

Other countries – including Portugal and Switzerland – have also heightened their entry restrictions.

Evidence required

From December 1, all arrivals in Portugal must show evidence of a negative Covid-19 test, regardless of vaccination status. 

For entry to Switzerland, Britons must show a negative PCR test and quarantine for 10 days. Spain will only be accepting fully vaccinated British tourists from next month.

“I think the new self-isolation measures will wipe out most inbound business and leisure trips in what is a very critical period running up to Christmas because why would you bother if you need to isolate?” Mr Charles said.

“They will also reduce the number of new overseas trips from the UK during the late December period, which is also a critical period for many travel firms.”

He said the Government has created the kind of uncertainty around travel that “decimated” bookings earlier in the pandemic.

“When you introduce quarantine – whether in a hotel or at home – it reduces confidence and puts people off booking. These measures will be quite damaging at a time when the industry is just recovering.”

Mr Charles said the fear in the travel industry is that the red list will widen as more cases are found, “before knowledge is really out there about the impact of the vaccine” on the omicron variant.

South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Angola have all been added to the red list, with flights from these countries to the UK banned.

This means that anyone arriving from these countries will have to spend 10 days in a hotel quarantine on their return to the UK, and will face a £10,000 penalty if they flout the rules.

Those who arrived back from these countries before 4am on Sunday via another country, or who have arrived back from South Africa in the last 10 days, will need to quarantine at home for 10 days.

Labour calls for further measures 

Meanwhile, Labour has called for pre-departure tests for travellers in the wake of the latest omicron variant.

Lisa Nandy, the shadow foreign secretary, said her party “desperately” wanted to see the Government “tighten up” travel restrictions after two new cases of the variant were discovered in England. 

Over the weekend Boris Johnson announced new precautionary measures to try take control of the variant, including stipulating that all international arrivals must take a day two PCR test and self-isolate until they receive a negative result. 

However, Ms Nandy said the Government needed to introduce more than a day two test.

She said: “The Government is saying everyone has to have a PCR test on day two when they arrive back in the UK, but they’re not suggesting pre-departure tests for people before they board flights.”

She told Trevor Phillips On Sunday that despite the Government having been “warned” for months, there was currently no advice for people about travelling back from the airport on public transport and that there were “very few checks on the PCR tests that are done”. 

Ms Nandy added that questions remained for the Government around the scientific advice provided on mask wearing and the “very little action on ventilation in public buildings”. 

Meanwhile Labour MP Yvette Cooper said the Government should reinstate pre-travel tests “immediately” to help identify and contain the spread of the Omicron variant.

She said: “Only reintroducing PCR tests after two days home isn’t sufficient as a precautionary approach as it leaves far too many gaps in the system.

“People can still travel on busy planes, wait in busy departure or arrival halls, then travel home on buses, trains or the tube, all without being tested at all.”

Ms Cooper said that it was known from previous waves and variants that “the virus spreads via other countries and via indirect flights, not just directly from the countries most affected – which is why early testing from all countries is vital”.

“But, once again, the Government seems to be leaving major gaps in the travel testing regime,” Ms Cooper added. 

“They have done this too many times before and they mustn’t make the same mistakes again. They need to learn from what happened with previous waves and get comprehensive testing in place fast.

“Until we know more about omicron and its interaction with our vaccines, the Government needs to take swift and sensible measures to stop it spreading into the UK.”