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Original poster

France transit/quarantine requirements are unfair

301 replies

Prochainesortie · 15/08/2020 09:57

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.

OP posts:
KarmaStar · 15/08/2020 14:36

You can't have one rule for one and another rule for someone else who thinks they have a valid reason for breaking the rules.
Your cleaner knew the risk,she took it regardless.
Everyone is suffering op!!your point seems selfish,self serving and without consideration of the thousands of people who have already died.the more precautions the better.

canigooutyet · 15/08/2020 14:38

She could instal the option to translate the pages of government waffle on whatever device she is using rather than ask someone she cleans for to get third hand info.

Personally going abroad for a funeral isn't essential travel. They could have all stayed in their countries and prayed together etc on whatever facetime, whatsapp, skype, zoom, they can all use. Anyone who has been paying attention to the world should have a clue that shit gets closed down with little or no notice.

Friendsoftheearth · 15/08/2020 14:41

What I find more worrying is that anyone can come up with a good enough reason to be the exception, and this kind of mentality will see the country being thrown into a second wave in a matter of weeks, or worse still the government really will have to bring in some very draconian measures to protect the country.

This could be avoided if people simply follow the rules and do the right thing.

I am sure your cleaner would not want to be responsible for killing another person because she couldn't stay at home for a few weeks.

canigooutyet · 15/08/2020 14:41

And had these rules not been imposed what was her back up plan for if during their travels or on their return they developed symptoms? As someone who is SE, that's usually top of the plans when I go away regardless of the circumstances or time of year.

ItsAlwaysSunnyOnMN · 15/08/2020 14:41

Summer the testing regularly is to be able to keep lessening the spread of covid

NHS staff and health care sector workers will be retiring to work once they have negative result regardless of who they have been in contact with if the need is there. We are tested regularly (seems pointless as I could catch it as soon as I leave but if I have it can isolate and lessen the spread of covid)

The incubation period and the antibodies of they provide immunity is still not exactly understood

ItsAlwaysSunnyOnMN · 15/08/2020 14:43

Returning to work

Not retiring ....

Devlesko · 15/08/2020 14:43

YABU.
Nothing is certain atm, if you travel you risk this.
Maybe you can pay the cleaner if you think it's not her fault. Then she needn't worry about no income.

canigooutyet · 15/08/2020 14:45

Yup at the beginning, remember don't be daft you cannot get it twice. Now there are serious questions about this.

Don't be daft if your young and health you cannot get this. We now know different.

People travelling at the moment for non essential things are no different to the idiots who travel abroad without insurance and then whinge cos they are stranded.

canigooutyet · 15/08/2020 14:46

Itsalways - don't hospital ward staff still have a 2 week working rotation as well as testing?

heartsonacake · 15/08/2020 14:49

@canigooutyet

Yup at the beginning, remember don't be daft you cannot get it twice. Now there are serious questions about this.

Don't be daft if your young and health you cannot get this. We now know different.

People travelling at the moment for non essential things are no different to the idiots who travel abroad without insurance and then whinge cos they are stranded.

It was never said you couldn’t get it twice, people speculated as such and then took it as fact.

It was also never said you couldn’t get it if you were young and healthy, just that you were less likely to and if you did you’d have a smoother recovery, which is true.

Don’t take media hype as fact.

allmycats · 15/08/2020 14:49

If the government don't close down quickly they are damned and when they do react quickly they are damned. EVERYONE KNOWS that the situation changes very quickly. If anyone chooses to go abroad they must accept the consequences.

Lweji · 15/08/2020 14:53

Even after 14 days quarantine you can be asymptomatic and pass on the virus.

This measure without testing at the end and monitoring of compliance is rather silly.

GabsAlot · 15/08/2020 14:53

ironically op if she had flown in the first place she would be fine

MyPersona · 15/08/2020 14:56

It's not just choosing to go on holiday. This attitude really pisses me off. Many people have immediate family that they only see rarely, in some cases they are of an age / have a health condition that means that you may never see them again if you don't travel this year. Then you get smug mn idiots parroting the idiocy of swanning off on holiday.
There are some people who prioritise holidays and that's their choice; but surely even the keyboard idiots have compassion for people missing their families.

And your attitude really pisses me off. My sister hasn’t seen her grandchild. My nieces will likely never see their grandfather again. My son’s partner is in Australia and they have no idea when they’ll be able to reunite, possibly 2022 if selfish arseholes carry on the way they are currently.

ItsAlwaysSunnyOnMN · 15/08/2020 14:58

I don’t work in a hospital

I work in mh unit

No we didn’t self isolate if we came into contact with someone who had covid we couldn’t we wouldn’t have any staff. If someone we lived was positive that treated differently

Now being tested regularly and will have to go into quarantine if coming back from abroad

But at the moment those staff can be covered if they couldn’t things would change

Thing shall change constantly this is what we shall be living with probably for some time

I get tested then carry on as normal and hope my result is negative (which it has been so far and results coming through in around 12 hours)

But I could be tested go shopping and catch it that’s the reality as it’s still around

whiteroseredrose · 15/08/2020 14:59

If you tested negative today it doesn't mean that you would test negative in 3 days time. Assuming you've not been in contact with anyone after the test this isn't correct.

People seem to be getting confused re the 14 days incubation. That's how long it could take for symptoms to appear after contracting the virus. If no symptoms after 14 days, good chance you didn't pick up the virus.

However, the virus, if present, could be detected during that 14 days with a swab test. It doesn't need to cause symptoms to be detected.

The negative test on arrival would mean that you haven't picked up Covid19 while away.

You could of course then pick it up back in the UK and test positive a few days later. But that is nothing to do with being in France or Spain etc.

ListeningQuietly · 15/08/2020 15:00

Have any of you actually read the UK quarantine rules ?
www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-how-to-self-isolate-when-you-travel-to-the-uk/coronavirus-covid-19-how-to-self-isolate-when-you-travel-to-the-uk

You are allowed to get home on public transport
You are allowed to go to the shop to buy food
People in your household who did not travel do not have to stay isolated - they can still go to the pub

its an utter joke and serves no medical purpose at all

Mintychoc1 · 15/08/2020 15:03

This is one of the reasons I’ve never wanted to move abroad. When the shit hits the fan, you’re a boat/plane journey from your loved ones.

ItsAlwaysSunnyOnMN · 15/08/2020 15:07

I agree it’s a joke

The answer is testing and tracking. Tracking is more complex

There is no excuse why we could not have had more testing

Lweji · 15/08/2020 15:15

@whiteroseredrose

If you tested negative today it doesn't mean that you would test negative in 3 days time. Assuming you've not been in contact with anyone after the test this isn't correct.

People seem to be getting confused re the 14 days incubation. That's how long it could take for symptoms to appear after contracting the virus. If no symptoms after 14 days, good chance you didn't pick up the virus.

However, the virus, if present, could be detected during that 14 days with a swab test. It doesn't need to cause symptoms to be detected.

The negative test on arrival would mean that you haven't picked up Covid19 while away.

You could of course then pick it up back in the UK and test positive a few days later. But that is nothing to do with being in France or Spain etc.

Not quite so.

It can be days between exposure and a positive test.
Someone testing negative at the time of arrival could have been infected on the flight and test positive or develop symptoms 3, 5, 14 days later. It would be better to quarantine and test at the end.

canigooutyet · 15/08/2020 15:17

Haha I don't believe the media hype.

What I don't understand with track and trace why we couldn't use whatever track and trace tech that was already there to begin with.
Seems to have done a really good job earlier in the year on a global level.

ListeningQuietly · 15/08/2020 15:18

The answer is testing and tracking. Tracking is more complex
The UK already has very effective test and track systems at every local authority the public health teams normally work on TB and STD cases
But Matt Hancock and the other idiots in Government
refused to use the local experts and PAID BILLIONS TO THEIR MATES TO SET UP RUBBISH SYSTEMS INSTEAD

Lweji · 15/08/2020 15:20

From the news and personal information, people hired to do tracing are sitting on their hands.
Meanwhile there seems to be a survey with vouchers handed in that for repeated tests and that, again, seems of dubious usefulness.

canigooutyet · 15/08/2020 15:20

Yup because not all are over it within 14 days.
Not everyone understands temp and isolation.

Afaik they still don't know how long a person is contagious for hence it kept changing. Wasn't it 7 days at one point?

SummerNamechangeHappened · 15/08/2020 15:21

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/business-53573404

Looks like they might set up a double testing system at some point. They are just arguing over the time between tests now.

It's not like they haven't had all year to figure this out.... much like the exam results. Twats! 🙈