Would we be crazy to book a holiday?

[RedPandaFluff]

DD is nine months old, and I'm knackered. I would LOVE a change of scenery, a few days in the sunshine, a wee adventure. Under normal circumstances we would book a week away in October somewhere and I was thinking Crete, or the Canaries, or Cyprus . . . anywhere, really!

However - would it be crazy to do this, in the current state of the world? What would be the worst that could happen? I'm still on maternity leave, and DH has been working from home since lockdown started (and probably will, for the foreseeable future), so if we had to quarantine it would be doable.

Could we? Should we? My brain is too befuddled as to what we can and can't do now

How many second time infections have we heard about?

How many second time infections have we heard about that end up in intensive care?

That’s because our immune system is doing it’s job.

I'm copying the following from RedToothBrush's post on the statistics thread (I hope she doesn't mind and that this is within the rules):-

"There is a really interesting story about a covid outbreak in Iceland.

They had managed to contain all cases there, and have been testing everyone on entry to the country.

They've suddenly picked up a new outbreak, but not only is it a new outbreak but its a new strain of the virus that hasn't been seen there before.

It turns out that because they've been testing on everyone on entry, they can trace back the outbreak to its point of entry: two french tourists who broke quarantine in August.

They've now got 40 new cases linked to these two tourists.

Iceland, to all intents and purposes, has only one point of entry for tourists in the absence of cruise ships rocking up, (the only other realistic entry point would be via cargo ships) so uniquely has the ability to monitor the vast majority of people entering the country.

So it really doesn't take a lot for transmission to affect a lot of people".

This demonstrates perfectly what the issue is with people travelling internationally. People need to understand that this isn't all about them, their wants, their needs, their desires ....... We all need to be pulling together so that we can control this as much as possible. Nothing will return to anything remotely resembling normal until we can control it more than we are doing at the moment, either by vaccine or otherwise.

*MummyPop00", I hope you are right, but I have followed this thing from the outset in Wuhan and Italy. There were young medics dying in both places and the concern was that they were continually being infected and their immunity systems were overloaded. Also, it seems that not everyone who has had Covid has antibodies.

Clearly, I am not going to persuade you or anyone else that intends to go on holiday abroad not to do so, but I am entitled to my view that you should not do so. And, as for travelling without adequate insurance, I trust there will be no daily Mail sad faces and Go Fund Me stories.....

I’m happy to be one of the guinea pigs then.

Can’t hide from this thing forever. Well you can try if you want, I tried & still caught it anyway

It's not all about you though. It's about whether you are contributing to its spread. Oh, I give up. Enjoy your holiday .

Yes I understand that, which is why I obey the law wearing face masks etc :)

Just go somewhere UK based.

Even though the UK has a higher infection rate than most of Europe?

No holiday insurance is utter madness regardless of Pandemic.

If you aren't tied to school holidays go now before any further restrictions come in.

No moral concerns from you then, myrtilles?

Hang on though . . . and I'm genuinely/sincerely questioning this - if I test negative, and go on holiday, and observe every precaution while there to avoid contracting the virus, and therefore don't contract it and come back home, how am I contributing to the spread of the virus?

If you have the funds to move the flights at a moments notice if travel advice changes, or can quarantine on return without causing issues work wise, why not.

However, I wouldn’t go anywhere that doesn’t need negative tests - that says to me that anyone can be bringing it in.

Where I live, people need a negative test to board the plane to travel here. Then are tested on arrival. Despite the requirement for negative test within 96 hours before departure, 12% of our cases over the last 2 weeks have been arrivals at the airport (we’re in around 700-1000 a day for the last 2 weeks, so significant numbers)

I’m desperate to travel. Absolutely desperate. And if I could travel without 14 day quarantine on return, I’d be off like a shot. But traveling somewhere that aren’t taking precautions such as testing either before or on arrival doesn’t seem like a good idea to me.

@PavlovianPooch I do not have moral concerns about people who follow the government guidance.
If the OP were planning to ignore quarantine rules if applicable on the way back that would be different.

I am not personally planning to take a flight as there are other means of transport such as ferry (with cabin) or tunnel where it is easier to social distance.

Not at all. I booked two. Did wonders for my mental health!

I need a holiday too! But cancelled.

What are you (and all other travellers) going to do if you feel ill the morning you are due to travel?
I bet most people will play it down to others and themselves. 'Oh I'm alright, it's not Covid'.How many people are going to lose what they have paid out for a holiday and not go? People will still get on the plane.

I think anyone booking now needs to be prepared for the rules to change with no notice. Going away is fair enough, but we are still in a pandemic and I find it crazy when people are complaining about changes to testing and quarantine.