Jet2 refuses to fly quarantined Tenerife holidaymakers home until they test negative for coronavirus

Holidaymakers told to stay at hotel for full two-week quarantine period

Jet2 has said it will not fly any customers staying at the quarantined hotel in Tenerife back to the UK until the incubation period has passed, or they have tested negative for coronavirus.

Guests staying at the H10 Hotel on the Canary Island have been on lockdown since 25 February, after an Italian guest tested positive for Covid-19.

Some 160 of the holidaymakers who have been told to stay in their rooms at the hotel are British tourists.

According to officials, more than 700 hotel guests are now allowed to depart the complex having not shown any symptoms of coronavirus.

But those who have booked with Jet2Holidays have been told they should remain at the four-star H10 Costa Adeje Palace for the full two-week quarantine period, unless they have tested negative for the deadly respiratory virus, regardless of whether the authorities have cleared them to leave.

“We are continuing to remain in contact with customers at the H10 Costa Adeje Palace in Tenerife, and we also have designated 24/7 telephone assistance in place,” a Jet2 spokesperson said in a statement.

“Their health and safety is our absolute priority, as it is with every single one of our customers and colleagues. Therefore, to help prevent any potential spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), we have asked all customers to remain in the hotel, which remains under quarantine, until any potential incubation period, as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), has passed (10 March).

“We will not fly any customer who has stayed at the H10 Costa Adeje Palace during the quarantine, until this incubation period has passed or unless they have been explicitly tested for COVID-19 by a recognised authority and are confirmed as clear of the virus. Our responsibility to our customers, our colleagues and the general public remains paramount.

“We will continue to release more information as it becomes available.”

Although guests were initially forced to isolate themselves by staying in their rooms, local authorities have now said that those with no symptoms can move freely around the hotel, including using the pool.

“All these tourists, clients, guests present no symptoms,” a regional government spokesperson told Sky News.

“A decision has been made that frees the hotel from the presence of 130 people.

“At the same time, there is the possibility that the remaining ones could be leaving the hotel as soon as a similar situation is verified.”

Guests that arrived after 24 February, numbering 130 in total, have also been told they can leave, given that the four people who tested positive for Covid-19 had already been removed and taken to hospital by that point.

Jet2 and TUI have both said that their holidays and flights to all other Tenerife hotels are running as normal.