COVID testing

[macdhui]

My dd is due to fly to London from Australia this weekend. The following week she is going to Denmark. Denmark has asked she has a COVID test 72hrs prior to arrival. Does anyone know somewhere around Heathrow/Twickenham where she can get tested. Are there walk in clinics ? Wondering what the system is. Thank you for any advice !

I believe you need to show symptoms to be able to get an appointment at the drive in centres / postal test. Not sure you can guarantee a result in 72 hours either.

Aren't there private companies catering for the traveller market? Saw someone on MN talking mentioning them... think there's a holiday board where such things will be being discussed.

Quite a lot of travel medicine centres now offer private fit-to-fly Covid testing. I've not used one so have no particular recommendation, but you will find plenty on google.

Thank you - don’t know why I didn’t think of Travel Medicine Centre ...that’s probably the answer ...my brain a bit overwhelmed at the moment!
Thank you everyone

I believe you need to show symptoms to be able to get an appointment at the drive in centres

Not true. Just log on and request a test. I just requires you to tick a box saying you have symptoms, nobody checks. Locally to me, you can literally book a hour in advance and results back in under 24 hours.

There is a test centre near Heathrow (drive in) I'd book it online through the gov.uk website

@Baaaahhhhh
Presumably you think it is equally OK for kids to tick boxes on websites to access content that is meant for adults, as nobody actually checks?

Presumably you think it is equally OK for kids to tick boxes on websites to access content that is meant for adults, as nobody actually checks?

If you require a test for Covid, and tests are under-utilised and available to anyone, including without symptoms, why would you not get a test if you require one? P.s. Your comment is bizarre and not relevant to the conversation.

@Baaaahhhhh
Because tests are not generally available to those without symptoms and it requires lying to get one without symptoms. While tests are currently in sufficient supply for those eligible to have one, they are certainly not in sufficient supply if everyone started getting them at random or because they wanted to go on holiday. Any tests that are required in order to go on holiday should be done at your own expense and not through the NHS system in the same way that the NHS doesn't fund travel vaccinations.

We went for tests at the weekend. There were approximately 20 people staffing the centre all sitting twiddling their thumbs. In the 20 minutes we were there we only saw one other car.

I don't think OP should have any qualms about getting a test booked.

OP, just go online to the NHS covid page and there is a link there for booking a test.

Will she clear immigration in Australia? As far as I’m aware you must be a permanent resident or an Australian citizen to gain entry. I’m not sure it’s the same in all states but travellers must now pay for the mandatory 14 days hotel quarantine, which goes into the thousands.

I think you or she should check what counts as "proof" - the Danish authorities seem to have a certificate that needs filling out -

politi.dk/en/coronavirus-in-denmark/travelling-in-or-out-of-denmark/persons-resident-in-banned-countries

and may not accept a text or email, which is what you get with the NHS test.

@itsatoughgig She’s flying the other way ie Aust to UK. You are correct though, anyone entering Australia has to pay for 14 days quarantine in a designated hotel.

UK doesn’t have any quarantine restrictions at the moment for passengers from Australia as long as they haven’t transited a restricted country.

Australians actually are banned from leaving Australia unless they have been approved by Border Force. There are very few reasons we can leave and a holiday isn’t one of them !

@PatriciaHolm will have a look at the certificate. There is another option to be tested on arrival in Copenhagen and go into 48hrs quarantine.

Thank you again for everyone’s input, really useful.

@macdhui apologies for not reading the post properly, I just incorrectly assumed that it was uk to aus.

Hopefully you have found a solution for the Covid testing requirements. Hope everything goes well. 💐

@PatriciaHolm
Looking into this specific situation both the UK and Australia appear to currently be open countries so those aren't the rules applying to the OPs daughter. It would appear that she should be able to enter without a test according to that website.

@StatisticalSense - a great many many people on mumsnet who have had tests have posted that you do not have to lie to get a covid test - if you say you do not have any of the symptoms asked about in the online booking form, it just lets you go ahead and book, anyway. This might just be because nobody is likely to book a test for shits and giggles.

Not quite true @Walkaround, when booking the system asks you initially why you are booking a test, you have to check one reason.

A few questions later it asks whether you have one of the main symptoms, yes or no. Even if you check No, it allows you to continue and book.

@JulyBreeze - nobody is lying if they tick “Other” though, which clearly permits any reason whatsoever!

@StatisticalSense
no lying required. It asks you if you have one of the three main symptoms you click no and it still lets you book on. I got a test with an hour's notice for my DS earlier - he has a symptom but not one of the main ones. Clearly the system is not overloaded.

You don't need symptoms to get a test. It has an "other" option.

I had a test with no symtoms (zoe app asked me to) i just went on the main booking system and didn't have to mention zoe. I said no symtoms and booked on that eve.

I think it's pretty poor form of people to abuse the NHS tests, but then again it's just a new way on a list of many that people seem to think it's ok to waste public resources.

@Lochroy - what do you mean by abusing tests? If someone has a good reason for requesting a test, where is the abuse? What are you counting as a bad reason for getting tested?

Tbh, if Denmark is worried about the covid status of someone entering the country there, I wouldn’t actually think it unreasonable to get reassurance that while they are in the UK, they are not busy infecting people here, either. It’s all useful data at a time they are saying they have more capacity than people coming forward for testing, to see what sort of proportion of overseas travellers are bringing covid in with them, what sort of symptoms people who test positive are reporting, and how many are claiming to be asymptomatic.

It’s another thing the Government are being a bit limp wristed about - asking people from some countries to quarantine but doing zero policing of this, and not collecting any useful data from it either.

To be fair the Zoe app instructs you to book a test as a keyworker, doesn't it? Because that's the "deal" they've done with the NHS, in return for sharing their research findings.