Why can't we just test people returning from Spain etc..?

[Cheesecakejar]

So the new quarantine rules from Spain will be causing so much economic upset for both us and them, why can't people just be tested at the airport on return instead of many people/businesses losing staff/incomes for 2 weeks for no need? Sorry if this has been done before....

Because it can take up to 14 days for them to develop it. That’s why it’s 14 days. (Mostly it’s more like 5.)

Covid cases Spain on 14 March (when they went into lockdown) were 5500 approx

Two weeks later on 31 March they were 86,000!

This weekend alone they had 6600 new cases

They’re in second wave for sure

Do you really want all our vulnerable and shielding to be at risk from all the thousands retuning / many won’t isolate let’s face it

Have they not had to stay in long enough? Holidays imo shouldn’t be happening this summer at all

Whole country at risk cos people want a tan

And I’m someone who’s just had theirs cancelled - I totally dismissed the second wave but Spain’s figures are alarming

Because people may develop symptoms at any time 14 days after exposure. It's why there is the 14 day self isolation rule.

Sorry just realised my post didn’t answer your question

So sorry been a long day and a bit fed up of holiday posts!

Because a test during the incubation period (of up to around 2 weeks) may be negative, especially in the first few days.

Meanwhile the virus is merrily multiplying whilst it’s still asymptomatic host is going about their daily business lulled into a false sense of security by their negative test.

It suck, but that’s how it works

Dear Lord, the typos and grammatical errors in my post

As above, if they’ve been infected that wouldn’t necessarily show up in a test until up to 14 days afterwards so it’d tell you nothing. Especially if they’d caught it very recently, on the plane etc

Might test negative when still incubating.
Same with temp checks at airports. They can't catch incubators.