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Original poster

Anyone recently returned from abroad & needing to self-isolate...have you been checked on?

80 replies

TurquoiseDress · 29/08/2020 15:21

Want to ask the question to those who are currently self-isolating after returning from travel abroad: has any official got in touch with you to check up on whether you are indeed in quarantine at home/chosen location?

Has this been in the form of a telephone call? or a home visit and knock on the front door? what did they ask, did they ask to see all occupants etc?

Asking for a friend...

OP posts:
InDeoEstMeaFiducia · 29/08/2020 15:23

No. No one ever contacted us and I don't know anyone who's been contacted. They just looked over our forms whilst we were in the queue for border control (I did ours online and had copies on my phone). The end.

Racoonworld · 29/08/2020 15:26

Yes I know of a friend who got contacted. Was a phone call initially then they turned up at the house to check as they didn’t believe they were in the house. They were actually following it so no fine was needed.

Quailpoop · 29/08/2020 15:28

I finished last week, no one checked but I got an email saying that they would check by a phone call or text message and I would have 3 chances before it turned into a home visit. I'm not sure how you can check on someone by text message but heyho.

PCol · 29/08/2020 15:28

contacted by who? who are they? I find it extremely hard to believe the government? NHS? Police? Have staff members spare actively going round to people's houses.

orangina · 29/08/2020 15:31

Yes, I was called by someone on behalf of Public Health England the day after I returned. I was in a Zoom meeting and couldn't take the call, and they called back the next day. Assured them that I was quarantining, confirmed day quarantine was to end, and that was that. Not expecting anything else now.

orangina · 29/08/2020 15:33

I had filled in my form but no-one checked that we had done so. The whole thing feels very very un joined up. The Guardian yesterday reported that 10 people have been charged £100 for refusing to fill in a form when asked to do so at Border Control, and 3 people have been charged with failing to quarantine. I think it's crazy.

GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat · 29/08/2020 15:38

Dh is a police officer and is following up on those who haven’t responded to phone calls. Not constantly but he has done it.

Original poster
TurquoiseDress · 29/08/2020 23:00

Thanks for the responses, as I was thinking, there is not going to be anything more than a phone call or text message...I would like to think that the country/government are putting financial resources into other more important issues.

OP posts:
AluminumMonster · 29/08/2020 23:11

Want to ask, made decision to go on holiday but don't want to quarantine when I come home, has anyone been caught?

Asking for a friend...

PinkPiranha11 · 30/08/2020 07:20

No one is checking you are at home. A bunch of sixth formers would have done a better Job running this system. Our forms were glanced at coming back though passport control but after that nothing. I would have expected a text at least reminding us to isolate but no, nothing. People on mumsnet are barricading their doors for 14 days....people in the real world not so much! We’ve been sensible as always (masks, hands etc) and haven’t been going to the pub, soft play or anything like that but we haven’t quarantined. It’s been fine. Before I get flamed - the place we have been to is the size of Lancashire and had 308 active cases of Covid (3 in hospital, so mainly younger people with milder cases I reckon). An area of comparable size in the UK - 10,000 cases. Madness.

SophocIestheFox · 30/08/2020 07:22

Nope. Household is on its second quarantine, and not a peep from officialdom either time. When I came through the border, they didn’t even check the form!

MrsSchadenfreude · 30/08/2020 07:30

I wasn’t checked on. In fact no-one checked my passenger locator form. I just went straight through the electronic gates, picked up my suitcase and went home. It struck me that it would be pretty easy to find a flight arriving that you didn’t need to quarantine from, that arrived at the same time as yours, and complete the form as if you had been on that flight. When I checked in, I was asked if I had completed the form, but wasn’t asked to show it. If I’d been travelling with hand luggage only, no-one would have asked anything!

EmmaStone · 30/08/2020 08:37

It's been nearly a week for us so far, no check, no one looked at our forms at Eurotunnel.

SerenityNowwwww · 30/08/2020 08:39

I was speaking to a teacher who said that two of his clients had had knocks on the door when they returned from their holidays. I suppose it’s random.

Northernlass99 · 30/08/2020 09:13

There are spot checks by phone by a contractor, but who knows what the % of arrivals identified for spot checks is. They only knock on the door if you haven’t answered the phone three times over three days. A total of three fines have been issued to people failing to self isolate so far.

SimonCaldersPassport · 30/08/2020 09:40

I'll be interested to see if we get a check. Currently on way home from Italy - would normally go via France and stop overnight in Bresse en Bourg. Taking the slightly longer route via Switzerland (no stopping) Germany (overnight stop) and then France (no stopping) so will not need to self isolate when home. Have declared as such on form - but to be honest I suspect we could have gone via France and stayed overnight - but said we didn't stop, or went via Germany and they would have been none the wiser.
They are really relying on the honesty of the holiday makers returning.....

SimonCaldersPassport · 30/08/2020 09:44

The caveat being assuming neither Italy or Germany go on the quarantine list in the next 48 hours 🤦🏻‍♀️🤞🏼

Original poster
TurquoiseDress · 30/08/2020 10:00

@SerenityNowwwww

Out of interest, who exactly was it that knocked on the door? Police? Border force control?

OP posts:
SerenityNowwwww · 30/08/2020 10:04

Gosh I’m not sure - I assumed it was an outsourced agency! They did say they they might visit or call their home number in the next few days.

WhySoMuchMess · 30/08/2020 10:06

Yes, a friend of mine had someone turn up to her house. Not sure where they were from. She was following the rules so all was fine

myfriendflicka9 · 30/08/2020 12:47

I read the local police Website and it said that they would only do spot checks if referred by public health England - so don’t understand how some people are being checked without having a phone call first?

Treesofwood · 30/08/2020 12:59

Myfriendflicka maybe people are saying that to try to make people worried that they won't get away with not quarantining. Quarantine in Feb would have helped. Don't suppose it's doing much now.

InDeoEstMeaFiducia · 30/08/2020 13:03

@myfriendflicka9

I read the local police Website and it said that they would only do spot checks if referred by public health England - so don’t understand how some people are being checked without having a phone call first?
A lot of people make stuff up on the internet to control others through fear, shame and guilt. It happens all the time.
Freetodowhatiwant · 30/08/2020 13:24

I’m on my 6th day of isolating and no call as yet. The person in the flat upstairs who I saw in the garden earlier said he was on his last day and hadn’t had a call either. He says he has also been going out for a daily walk, taking all precautions but saying that if anyone contacted him he would say he was pre diabetic and needed to exercise for his health. I’m sooo bored of staying in and we are in a new town and a rented flat as between selling/buying in new place. I would love to take the kids out for a walk, even just to see their new school as I’m worried about them starting there the day after being in isolation with nothing in between.

Topseyt · 30/08/2020 13:28

Some from our wider family were to self isolate on return from a holiday.

They did, but there were no checks. Their forms weren't even looked at at the airport when they got back, let alone collected. They still have them and are well out of quarantine now.