To think this is just a joke now?

[Justinversusmrtumble]

Portugal possibly going back onto the amber list.
The only thing keeping my parents going is coming to celebrate toddlers DD’s birthday in the summer. It’s getting beyond ridiculous now. Feeling so low today, I miss my family so much.

@mummymeister hit the nail on the head I'm afraid.

OP YANBU to feel upset about it but YABU to post on AIBU and not expect people to tell you that you are unreasonable. It is really tough and I feel for you and your parents but you are far from the only ones - plenty of people in the UK can't see their parents due to visiting restrictions in care homes etc. I say that not from a race to the bottom or a lack of empathy but because modern society encourages us to look mainly at out own situation "because I'm worth it". Most of the time this works but in a global crisis the big picture has to come into play and like it or lump it a lot of restrictions have to be imposed one way or another.

I for one will put up with pretty well any restrictions if my children can go to school/university. Closing the borders to all but non-essential travel for a bit longer seems a small price to pay for allowing this country to protect its citizens by stopping the spread of the virus.

I would suggest asking MN to move this thread to the CV topic except that a lot of posters there seem keen for another full lockdown which won't serve you any better.

Just be lucky they’re still here on this Earth with you.
It’s not the most ideal situation but at least they’re still with you.
Things will eventually settle down, it’s keeping other people safe for the moment.

@Dohrehmee

If they don’t work then can they not quarantine at home in uk ? I Just cannot understand why the tests are so expensive. My friend is a single parent. She cannot afford expensive staycations. But the tests shed have to pay on top to go On holiday is a real blow to her finances. This whole corona is killing us emotionally mentally as well

The tests don't need to be nearly as expensive as they are but they are offered by private companies. And private companies are businesses wanting to make a profit.

There was a news item last week of a woman employed by the NHS who could access a PCR test at work, for free. She needed a negative PCR test for flying to Ireland. When she got to the airport and showed proof of her negative PCR test, it was refused because she hadn't had it done at a private clinic. So she couldn't go.

Boris Johnson etc could probably enact rules that mean PCR tests are much cheaper (wherever they are offered). But Boris Johnson etc have no regard for or understanding of people on modest means. As with so much else, they are happy to let the market define the terms.

And they have very little understanding of the mental toll all this is exacting from many of us. Sympathies to your friend.

My dad died during lockdown, so I understand your frustration- but the risk is still a risk outside your Family. You get to make your choices but they still affect those who you interact with for the weeks after the event, and it’s not fair to choose for them.

I miss my family too. I haven't seen my 91-year-old Mum since last September, or my nephews/niece in over a year. We're all hurting - you are not alone.

But unless we all pay attention, it will be even longer.

I hear you OP. My DSis and her kids are booked to come home from Italy for five weeks this summer, I haven't seen them for a year and I miss them so much. We usually fly back and forth all the time. I'm praying they can come.

DP was working at the football in Portugal and got a text to isolate today, as did his colleagues on his flight home. Going to cause us a myriad of problems.

@Tiktokersmiracle AIBU is NOT about kicking people when they are down and just bullying people in shit circumstances because it makes you feel better. You're coming across as absolutely awful - maybe go and have a lie down.

OP, you're in a shit situation and I have every sympathy with you. There is another thread in Coronavirus - support for those with family abroad - I'd suggest posting on there instead.

@Justinversusmrtumble

Portugal possibly going back onto the amber list. The only thing keeping my parents going is coming to celebrate toddlers DD’s birthday in the summer. It’s getting beyond ridiculous now. Feeling so low today, I miss my family so much.

So if I've got this right you are in Portugal and your parents UK, they are elderly, vaccinated and would like to spend some time with the family as time is running out ? Honestly as long as they are able to isolate for two weeks when they get back home I don't see a problem with this. The government would want to discourage travel as much as possible, which I understand, but there is a big difference someone travelling on a holiday where they are in close contact in hotels and bars etc than spending time in someone else's home . People can travel for work, compassionate reasons etc so some flights will still be going .

The joke is that Portugal has very low cases at present.

I have to say, I love how in this thread you have people encoding her elderly parents, who have some health issues, to travel to a foreign country.
AND at the same time
People saying that the OP (or anyone else who is finding hard not to be able to see their parents) to stop whinging, that they are just reckless ‘because dint they know about the virus and the number if people who died’.

The fact those those positions aren’t compatible hasn’t escaped me.

The PCR tests are a joke. There is no need, private companies or not, to have test at £150 when they cost about £20 in European countries.
Greed at its best really.

It also means that only the richest can travel. Those who can pay this stupid prices plus have 10 days self isolation when back etc..l
No wonder self isolation isn’t working (as per government study.... it seems that few people actually self isolate...

@QuentininQuarantino Exactly, I’m all up for debate etc but this feels like an incessant put down and nasty, I hope it can be seen that it’s bullying now.

The tests don't need to be nearly as expensive as they are

I disagree, if extensive tests, quarantine k ever changing rules puts some off travelling then it’s fewer opportunities for the virus to spread.

No one needs a holiday, if they decide they can’t possibly forgo one then they are aware of the charges etc.

It’s no wonder people get frustrated and annoyed when thousands of football fans can fly abroad and cause chaos yet we can’t visit families.
Surely if you need a negative test or covid vaccine to travel and a negative test before return then how have all these football supporters now tested positive.

@vegas888 Exactly

Yes we should follow AU and NZ who would not allow their own citizens back in without quarantining. If people insist upon travelling then they should pay the price. This is how the Indian variant got into this country.

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss

The tests don't need to be nearly as expensive as they are

I disagree, if extensive tests, quarantine k ever changing rules puts some off travelling then it’s fewer opportunities for the virus to spread.

No one needs a holiday, if they decide they can’t possibly forgo one then they are aware of the charges etc.

Except it's not just about a holiday

Shhh, OhYouDont, that doesn't fly on MN.

The whole PCR testing to travel was a fiasco when it was first introduced December. We had a holiday booked months earlier and a few days before we travelled the testing was introduced. So we went with Easyjets partner company (which was offered to us at a reduced cost) and due to the company over committing to the volume of tests they could manage, our results weren't back in time and we were refused to board the flight.
We haven't been able to get a penny back as both Easyjet and the partner company deny responsibility

Watchdog took up the case as 100's were in same boat as us but no joy.

And now the same company are one of the government licensed ones performing the Day2, 8 and test to release - talk about jobs for the boys

Happy to see the posts/person I reported have been removed-horrible!

@IntoAir

Many of us are suffering from not seeing parents and close family for a long time, with no prospect of doing so in sight. Sure it's sad - but it's better than opening up our country, or other countries, to unnecessary spread of the virus.

This.

I'm readying myself never to see my mother alive again - she's heading for 90 and frail, and lives in a country which is not permitting UK citizens to enter at all.

People really have to realise that the ONLY WAY things will return to a semblance of what they used to be is by thinking of the whole, rather than individual desires.

The more people act self-centredly, the longer it will take to control & deaden this virus.

Get a clue! It's never going to end no matter what people do. It can't be deadened.

@MrsJBaptiste

I agree we should have just stuck with no travel until 2022, it’s what most people expected to happen anyway

And there speaks someone who doesn't work in the travel industry.

Or any of the myriad of industries that cannot exist without international travel, some of which are quite vital and cannot be done on Team or Zoom or anything else. We can't self-sustain.

[quote Justinversusmrtumble]@daisypond Hi, this morning all over the forums here it’s being discussed and many saying it means people can only come over for emergency reasons (funeral etc) also that it means travel insurance is invalid. Others are saying they can come but will have to quarantine on arrival back in the U.K., which is completely fine. I guess we’ll just have to wait until the announcement. There’s a hell of a lot of confusion about it all here and more stress again for the restaurant’s etc who had everything in place ready and had a few weeks of some profit coming in and now may be without custom again.[/quote]
There's no confusion over it. Read the Gov website. Don't get your official information from Mumsnet!

To be confirmed but Portugal now off the green list after recent English football fans exportation of Indian Delta variants as well as latest Nepal Indian variants of concern? Bit of an own goal for two English teams to play overseas for one match with fans flying too!? Not sure if Australia and New Zealand will allow potentially Indian variant Brits to enter despite UK unilateral green list status change. I suspect the Australian and New Zealand governments given their best in class track record take Covid seriously compared to the ad hoc British way for using it as an excuse for personal, mates and family unjust enrichment corruption. They tend to prefer the idea of saving lives down under!

Oh OP, I'm sorry. That must be hard.