France transit/quarantine requirements are unfair

[Prochainesortie]

I know 5 families currently in relatively Covid safe European families (Eg Germany, Poland etc) visiting their own families who will now have to quarantine due to transiting France for a few hours and using the Eurotunnel. They won’t stay the night in France just refuel once due to driving distances, they won’t exit the car in the eurotunnel. 1 is my cleaner and she is panicking about no income on return. She doesn’t have online shopping and her children won’t be allowed out of her small flat to exercise for 14 days! The only reason she drove was to be safer and avoid airports! I think the U.K. government is unreasonable given France is such a transit country. More notice should have been given and they need to relax the transit requirements urgently. I agree that spending the night in France might increase the risk but 1-2 refuel/stop should be allowed as long as masks/sanitiser etc are used. My cleaner is driving in a big car with another family, I told her to look into driving through Germany for longer/carrying some fuel if possible. Hopefully she will find a way to avoid the quarantine legally by not having to stop.

[GabsAlot]

im sorry she lost a fmaily member must have been hard but what would have happened if poland had been put onthe list-she still would have to qurantine and would still be inconvieniced

theres a risk with any country atm

[Lemons1571]

@WaffleCash then you’d have to isolate - presumably you’d pass other people In the ferry corridors, on the car deck, you’d be touching surfaces on the boat. Thats according to the rules anyway. Obviously in practice you’re just as likely to catch it in Sainsbury’s.

[Dominicgoings]

Susan and Sebastian from Surrey.
That better ? 😉

[BeeTrees]

You know that petrol pumps and service stations are little germ central? Even the buttons and pump handle etc. Unless you have someone helping you with infection control, you could touch the handle and then your keys and clean you hands but touch your keys again and recontaminate. Then get in the car and hand out drinks to everyone and you’ve all got it.

[ItsAlwaysSunnyOnMN]

Everyone knows that this is a risk and when you travel there can’t be last minute changes it’s a risk you take

Only people I sympathise with is those that have a need to visit family. I’m choosing not to see family which makes us all very sad but we are in the middle of a pandemic so life if restricted

Many people are going to loose their wages for a few weeks (I personally couldn’t afford to) well that is a risk they took and should have considered this before going they can not claim they didn’t know this

[noses11]

InDeoEstMeaFiducia lack of thought as to enforcement is common to the government's response.

You would probably get away with non-observance of quarantine if you do not travel to work (can wfh), get on with your neighbours, spend each night at home, and are not a Celtic footballer.

[MonaLisaDoesntSmile]

@edwinbearv what advice are you taking about? There is hardly any except for traveling to specific countries, which is as we see updated the day before measures are meant to be introduced.

[itsgettingweird]

It's not unfair!

How can being able to have the choice to travel abroad in a pandemic unfair?

Unfair was all the frontline staff that lost their lives due to the pandemic.

It's an inconvenience. An inconvenience they knew they were risking. And that's being generous.

[TattiePants]

I thought Belgium was ok to visit now? Surely your friends and cleaner in Germany and Poland would know to drive through Germany and then Belgium and join the A16/E40. It's 40 mins from the Belgian border to Coquelles so unless they have an accident or become unwell, why would they need to stop?

I should have been doing the journey in reverse tomorrow but it was always a strong possibility that this would happen so we're not travelling. Sunny Scotland here we come!

[InkKeepsRunning]

I’m pretty sure she would be able to get through France without filling up. We did. She might need to take a longer / different route to minimise time in ‘red’ countries, but I’m pretty sure it’s possible.

I agree that motorway service stations on the continent are probably relatively high risk and to be avoided.

Fill up before the border, and wee at an Aire instead of a service station, and she’ll be fine.

[InkKeepsRunning]

@TattiePants Belgium is in the red zone too (since about 2 weeks ago).

[itsgettingweird]

I'm not sure the route you take to ferry or tunnel actually is relevant.

As I understand it anyone who gets into those transports has to complete the quarantine forms.

Otherwise everyone could claim the refuelled at x station in Belgium and never stopped in France!

[cologne4711]

The rules are prejudicial towards Europeans visiting family and just transiting back to the U.K. because 1 fuel stop= 14 day full on quarantine

Nonsense. If she is in Poland, she can refuel on the German border and not stop once until she reaches the tunnel. The tunnel doesn't count as France. I don't think getting petrol is the issue - stopping to go to the loo is.

[WaffleCash]

Yes, there's the 5 minutes where you go from the car deck to the cabin whilst everyone's wearing masks, although we didn't actually pass anyone in the corridors or touch and surfaces.

Makes me wonder if they're isolating people coming off planes from quarantine countries, or if they're freely mixing with everyone else in the airport (I suspect the latter)

[cologne4711]

everyone could claim the refuelled at x station in Belgium and never stopped in France Belgium is already on the quarantine list.

[TattiePants]

@InkKeepsRunning, I stopped paying attention once we'd cancelled everything and got our money back. That's 3 of the 5 countries we were visiting in the red zone - good job we cancelled!

[LightAsTheBreeze]

I think the timing of the announcement was to reduce discussion and headlines about A level results.

I said this to DH this morning, the government are constantly doing this

[ListeningQuietly]

Is there any evidence ANYWHERE of somebody catching COVID from a hard surface such as a petrol pump handle ?

[Chloemol]

@Prochainesortie

1. It’s been on the cards for quarantine for ages, your cleaner still chose to go
   
2. The rules apply to everyone and you are being irresponsible in trying to find a way to circumvent them and whilst it may just be a petrol stop, hundreds of people will have used that petrol station over the last 72 hours and you could get the virus,
   

3 I get she wants to see family, and that a family member died, but so do hundreds of thousands of people in this country, who can’t see family that live in this country! Lots have had family members die and been unable to go to funerals or comfort family members face to face
4 we are in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. She made a choice, she’s an adult, she has to accept the consequences

[acatcalledjohn]

YABVU. I was going to visit family around now in Europe with a return date next week with a last minute booking. I decided against it because of quarantines being imposed and, frankly, getting rid of this virus is more important than my trip. It's just a shame that others don't feel the same way because for that reason I won't get to see my parents for a long time. With my DF being mid 70s I'd like to see them sooner rather than later, ideally. And for that reason everyone needs to stop being so incredibly selfish. Only travel when absolutely necessary.

Given that you cannot adequately confirm whether people have holidayed in France or just passed through. It's not like they couldn't have picked up the virus whilst refuelling.

Just. Don't. Fucking. Travel.

[BlueSwathesChoose]

TBH. Although I have sympathy with people wanting to see loved ones abroad (My own family are a 10 hour flight away, and in a country I could not have seen them even if I wanted to) I think that people going away and taking the risk should have known that there was a risk, and should just either accept it or suck it up when the ganble did not pay off. And it was ALWAYS going to be a gamble. You cannot have missed that going away was going to be a gamble.

I feel sympathy, but ultimately people need to take responsibility for themselves and their own actions.

We lost 2 family holidays this year. I was unable to go to my hoem country when my father was hospitalised (for something unlreated and thank goodness he is okay now). We have chalked it up that 2020 is a Lost Year. And if everyone just sat tight hopefully it is ONLY 2020 that is a lost year.

[silentpool]

I realise it's difficult but I think we all knew this was likely to happen. This insistence on a summer holiday is going to cause additional spikes.

[UntamedWisteria]

OP, the rules are that if you are transiting France you don't need to quarantine on return provided that if you leave your car you don't mix with other people and no-one else gets in your car.

Your cleaner can refuel without meeting other people - she can pay by card.

We are in the same situation (driving back from another European country via Eurotunnel), read the rules and thought, that's fine, we just won't stop in France.

[acatcalledjohn]

I should add: I would have either take unpaid leave or waste the remainder of my holiday days to quarantine on return from my trip in case of a government imposed quarantine. Incidentally the country I would have travelled to is now subject to a quarantine on return to the UK.

Being an adult with a working brain I weighed up the pros and cons and decided that my travel was unnecessary.

Unless your cleaner traveled for a funeral I have precisely zero sympathy.

[TitsOutForHarambe]

I'm in Australia and most people who travel outside of cities have fuel cans. If you fill them up before you leave then you can refuel whenever and wherever you want to. Not sure if that helps, it would depend on her route and how many mpg her car gets.