Recovered from Covid and banned from flying?!?

[Blah1881]

Am I being unreasonable to say that the government has made no accounting for those recovered from Covid who wish to fly but who may trigger a positive PCR (having tested positive within 90 days)? We have a villa holiday booked in August with extended family and we had Covid in June. We are fully vaccinated. We have been told by the NHS that we must be exempted from testing for 90 days, but the government website makes no exceptions for travellers who have recovered in that timescale and want to fly. This surely has to change in legislation urgently as it discriminates against a massive cohort of UK citizens?! Am I being unreasonable?

In France, they have an official certificate with the date you first tested positive, so you can still travel if you've had covid and don't need to test. Can you use the date of your positive test in the UK as proof you've had it already?

Thank you for your response- we are headed to Portugal and nowhere online or in legislation does it suggest that as an option. I have contacted the airline and they say they are getting loads of calls like this, and urging people to contact the home office as it seems to be a total blind spot.

I was wondering about this. A family member is recovering now but due to travel to the balearics in a month. It's entirely possible that they will still trigger a positive pcr by then.

Why not have a dummy run so to speak, and get a PCR now to see if it shows up positive.

Surely it's not the UK's restrictions but Portugal's?

I would book a PCR to be delivered at home and take the test, it may well comeback as negative, in which case you can fly and do the test again close to travelling (knowing it be be negative) though bear in mind you can catch covid more than once

If you contact 119 I think you can have a certificate of immunity which you can use for 180 days from date of positive test.

Just to ask... but do you have to travel?
It would save the issue.

You may not test positive anyway.
Anyway, surely it's up to wherever you are flying to to decide on who they allow in. It's not really the UK Govs call.

@FlyingBattie

You may not test positive anyway. Anyway, surely it's up to wherever you are flying to to decide on who they allow in. It's not really the UK Govs call.

You also need a negative PCR before you can come back into the UK though.

Thanks everyone for getting back to me. We have cancelled the holiday now as there are too many unknowns. We lost nearly 2k. It’s not so much the testing issue as I discovered that rapid antigen tests were valid for Portugal if legally witnessed, snd they are much less sensitive when showing previous infection. It was the whole ‘amber plus’ thing and the fear of goalposts moving again- potential hotel quarantine. I have t slept since we cancelled it on Saturday though. My husband is devastated as he has been holed up working so hard and this was the light at the end of the tunnel. He’s in a bad place psychologically now. I’ve been very positive throughout the pandemic but now I feel as though I’m going mad. When I think about the fact that we cancelled my heart starts pounding and Im sweating like I have a fever. I’m not generally an anxious person. Maybe I’m still not quite recovered from the Covid after a month. The kids are not bothered at all by the cancellation though- they like the paddling pool in our garden.

Well YABU if you paid for the holiday, without taking our insurance for covid.

And YABU not to realise that the exceptions to being allowed to fly will apply to many people, and might at any point apply to you

YABU to expect a pandemic to be ‘fair’

@HalzTangz

I would book a PCR to be delivered at home and take the test, it may well comeback as negative, in which case you can fly and do the test again close to travelling (knowing it be be negative) though bear in mind you can catch covid more than once

But if it is positive you'd have to isolate for 10 days

I'm sorry you cancelled.
That must be upsetting.
I just wanted to point out that leaving UK yo go to Portugal you don't need a test, just you vaccination pass on the NHS app.
Coming back to the UK you do a lateral flow test 48 hrs before you fly. It doesn't need to be witnessed. We used chronomics and you take the tests out with you, do them and send photo of result.
I do know people who faked theirs... Not us, we would have been happy to stay on holiday if we'd tested positive

Thanks jelly bean- I’m pretty sure you need a test though I looked into it very hard and even called the Portuguese embassy . Yes, normally I wouldn’t be so devastated but it’s the fact that we could have gone but have now cancelled. We could have gone and then had to quarantine in a hotel which would have been the worst experience of our lives. Or we could have gone and had an amazing uplifting experience for us and the extended family who were joining us. Yes I know it’s all a first world problem and I’m really hoping for my health’s sake that I regain a healthy perspective on this soon.

There’s this paragraph in the details for spain. Is a recovery certificate in the details for Portugal too?

All passengers (excluding children under the age of 12 years old) arriving into Spain who have visited a ‘risk country’ in the previous 14 days must show evidence either of a diagnostic test, vaccination or recovery certificate.

@HalzTangz

I would book a PCR to be delivered at home and take the test, it may well comeback as negative, in which case you can fly and do the test again close to travelling (knowing it be be negative) though bear in mind you can catch covid more than once

If it comes back posts he will need to isolate for 10 days again though.

You expected the government to do detail? Have you not read any news about Mr Johnson over the last ten years?

It may be discrimination or the result of an oversight, but that will not get this misogynistic government led by a man who has used racist language to do anything. The other reason why some things are vague or unclear is to allow ministers or Tory donors to behave in an unreasonable or inconsiderate way and escape fines or prosecution.

@0None0

Well YABU if you paid for the holiday, without taking our insurance for covid.

And YABU not to realise that the exceptions to being allowed to fly will apply to many people, and might at any point apply to you

YABU to expect a pandemic to be ‘fair’

When I looked there was no travel insurer at all who will cover for covid-related cancellation, especially not a case like this.

Well, I’m insured for covid cancellarions

*cancellations

This is why we're not booking any foreign holidays until the pandemic has eased a great deal (that and I don't fancy bring in a tin can with lots of other people for hours).

It's all just too uncertain. We've all had a shit time, we all need a break, but it seems to me that the stress and cost of trying to arrange a holiday and hoping nothing cancels it is way more than the relative relaxation you get while you're there.

I don't think you have been banned from flying though? You could have taken a PCR at the very least but instead you cancelled. I believe that to be personal choice and not a case of being 'banned'

The EU digital covid cert lets you upload either a vaccination cert, recovery cert or recent test result (type/date of test required depends on the country you go to).
I dont understand why the UK have not brought out a digial pass compatible with this, as other European non-EU countries have done (Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway). Would be a lot easier

Who;at you risk having to isolate it you tested positive chances are you wouldn't.

DD's friend tested positive in her pre departure test when she was coming home from a year abroad, flying from Portugal. She did her 10 days and re tested on day 12 and tested negative - she flew home the next day.