Please explain new testing regime for travellers

[CKBJ]

So Hancock has announced the new testing scheme for travellers into the UK. A pcr test on day 2 and day 8 which will be genome sequenced, obviously very good. However I don’t get this part.... the new rules can be used alongside the old ie test on day 5 negative and quarantine can end. Does this mean a traveller could test negative on day 2, negative again on day 5 meaning they can end quarantine early, go about their business day 6 and day 7, test again day 8. If the traveller is positive they potentially could have been mixing for 2 days! I’m really confused. Surely it needs to be simple: come into the country no matter who you are and quarantine for 10 days test on day 2 and day 8.

The thought of staying in the UK for my holidays makes my blood run cold

Same here. For the most part U.K. holidays are utterly grim. Overpriced and often sub-standard accommodation (grubby, musty self-catering; hotels stuck in the past with dodgy food and rooms decked out in velvet brocade and chintz). The almost inevitable shit weather, depressingly familiar culture, everything closing ridiculously early (once had a total fail trying to get dinner after 8pm in Penzance - ended up back at the hotel cross and hungry).

I love travelling and immersing myself in different cultures (studied Modern Languages and have lived in several European countries) - for me the whole point of a holiday is discovering new cultures, having a go at new languages and exploring the unfamiliar. The prospect of being confined to Blighty for the foreseeable feels pretty bleak - and will be even worse when we’re all jostling for space on overcrowded beaches and fighting over the same limited accommodation options.

And I suppose I’d better give up on ever visiting my brother and sister-in-law in Canada, and seeing them properly get to know my three year old, who has barely met her Uncle and Auntie.

@TempsPerdu I’m with you. Nothing would make me voluntarily have a holiday in the UK.

I am desperate to see my parents who live in my home country and are not getting any younger. It makes me furious that last summer this same government were heralding air bridges, telling us to get back to the office, failed to implement any quarantine, allowed the virus to run out of control again and now we are in an even worse place than before.

I’m another in a different country from my whole family. I haven’t seen anyone since 2019 and I’m so, so desperately lonely and miserable. I honestly don’t think I’d still be here if it weren’t for my dc. I’ve commented before on a similar foreign travel thread on MN and was told that I should’ve thought about that before moving abroad.

@ QuentinInQuarantino
Big hugs. I expect that kind of comment any time too. ..I happened to fall in love with an English guy whose parents - ironically - live abroad. So none of our families are here ( We were not planning to move abroad whilst out dc are little but now I feel I would...in a heartbeat...Now with the Covid it’s not possible but every day it occupies my mind more and more...

It’s a nightmare for people living overseas with dc in boarding school in the UK. We have to travel to get kids back to school - when they go back. Test Prior to travel
Quarantine
Test on Day 2
Test on Day 5 if want to test and release
Test on Day 8
4 tests.

The 3 tests in the UK have to be booked prior to travel back to UK and all details included e.g booking reference and provider on the Passenger Locator Form. There is a new booking portal on the gov.uk website from Thursday. Only certain listed providers can be used.

Then for me to return home I need another test prior to travel. And repeat.

I was hoping to travel to a very low risk country this month so that I could spend my 40th with dp. Turns out it wouldn’t be possible, because of brexit rule changes. But when I was looking into it, I would have had to pay £150 for a test to be able to fly to that country, have another test for free at the airport, another test 72 hours later for free to get out of quarantine, and then finally a 4th test to be able the U.K. again which I would have to pay for. It’s an expensive country and I looked up the cost, 350€. So I’d be paying approx £500 and have to take 4 PCR tests in less than a week. Moot point as it turned out I couldn’t go, but this is going to make travelling prohibitively expensive for a lot of people.

How hilarious some of you are. Many UK holidays are fantastic. You are clearly going to the wrong places. There are shit holes abroad as there are here. The main issue with UK is the weather.

It was bad enough reducing quarantine U.K. wide to 10 days from 14 to make people comply.
How stupid is it to let people go out and about when they can test negative every day until day 10 or 14? What’s the point? I never understood the policy of testing negative you’re good to go. The risky part as well is travelling in the plane and airport so you can be negative, great, the day you travel and then pick it up in the airport and then 14 days later bingo

This has been the case in many countries since early summer 2020. I still can’t comprehend why it’s taken the UK almost a year to come up with a test and quarantine system for incoming travellers.

Where I live we have a similar system, depending on which country you come from. Test before flying, on arrival and on day 5. You pay for all your tests. Only PCR tests are valid and the test certificate must include details of how that specific laboratory analyses PCRs, etc... But - the government also partnered the top lab in the country who offer 24h turn around tests at all the major airports, and in some of the bigger cities. It costs 59€ and it’s the most efficient system I’ve ever seen. The standard certificate includes the download your result in 10 different languages. Last time I used the portal they apologised for not offering any more.

There have also been quarantine requirements since July last year, and people ARE checked. The rules are very clear and you fill forms on the plane, register digitally and have to report all of your test results to the local health authorities. It’s worked a treat, but it’s also been in place for months and they issue fines to those who don’t comply.

Going abroad is far far more than going on holiday. DH worked for 4 years in one of the now Red list Countries which incidentally has far stricter Covid measures than we do and has done all along so I’m not entirely sure why it’s on there tbh. DH has travelled there a few times since last March mainly in the summer when things opened up again as he has work to do. In normal circumstances he would be going there at least once a month.
This is going to completely decimate his whole business and livelihood. The 10 day quarantine at home I understand and taking a test before you enter and leave the country I understand (he had to do that anyway to get in) but he can’t keep paying nearly £2000 to stay in a hotel just to keep his business afloat.
He has done so much via zoom etc but he needs to be there in person.

"grubby, musty self-catering; hotels stuck in the past with dodgy food and rooms decked out in velvet brocade and chintz"

😂 where are you going on holiday?! Can I introduce you to Trip Advisor? It might help.

"And I suppose I’d better give up on ever visiting my brother and sister-in-law in Canada, and seeing them properly get to know my three year old, who has barely met her Uncle and Auntie."

They'd never have known her anyway, stop being so dramatic.

My family lives in my home country but I still agree with the testing plan. If only everyone has isolated honestly then this shouldn't have come to this. Most do, but keep hearing "we just went to the pharmacy", "we double masked and went to the supermarket because we did not get delivery slots" etc etc.
So yes, testing is good, most countries have it and UK should be no exception.
The only thing is cost and it should not lead to profiteering by private providers. Govt should fix a cost for travellers inbound and outbound because at present it is between £99 and £299 depending on where you get it.
The Govt should also allow people to test in their centers (with the same cost) as private providers may be quite far for some which will lead to public transportation usage. I don't think a home test will work for second day testing (supply issues?).

@DavidsSchitt
Sorry, but I stand by what I wrote. Accommodation-wise we like modern sleek and minimalist; sleek and minimalist in the U.K. costs £££ - there are loads more affordable options overseas than in the U.K. Lots of people holidaying in the U.K. want ‘heritage’, which in hotel terms often ends up being the old fashioned, tweedy, dusty style we hate. We do extensive research every year, thank you, and I am very familiar with Trip Advisor but personally not a fan because people tend to focus on trivialities like whether there were sufficient sun loungers and TV was big enough rather than atmosphere. And none of that solves the main issues, which are the weather and the fact that we want adventure, novelty and unfamiliarity.

I don’t know a single person under 50, especially with kids, who would choose to holiday in the U.K., given the option. And if you think I’m being ‘dramatic’ speak to my MIL, who last year attempted suicide and ended up on a ventilator as she couldn’t take the regular holidays she used as a major tool in mitigating her severe depression. That and regular social contact were her main armoury against the illness; now both have been taken away and instead she’s dosed up to the eyeballs on lithium.

As for your Canada comment, that’s pretty callous; DB was flying home twice a year for extended trips prior to covid and DD knew and was comfortable with him. She can hardly remember him now, and can’t/won’t engage with Zoom. It’s fairly likely that my elderly parents will never see him again.

I’m not even saying these measures are the wrong thing to do given the current crisis, but we’re allowed to be depressed about them - as many of the people I know are.

I dont understand how it's going to work, it's another thing we wont understand fully until it plays out I guess?

My in laws live in Asia but I'm just presuming we wont be seeing them.for years. Mil emergrated over a decade ago and didnt think about travelling in her 70+ and money wise, so it wasnt on the immediate cards anyway. No way can we all afford to go with these added costs so it as good as impossible.

On holiday front, again I wont risk it until I see it in action. No plans to go abroad this year. But imagine if your holiday and your destination gets added to list that you have the compulsory quarantine for? No thanks. Not worth that risk.

A lot of countries are already doing this and have been since April.

People complained the UK lagged behind, now people dont like it. You cant win

People complained the UK lagged behind, now people dont like it. You cant win

Because those countries ahead of the UK are now thinking of lifting their measures come summer. Their numbers have stayed much lower and in a couple of months, travel will look feasible again.

I couldn’t travel to the UK much last year, because it was classed as a high risk country where I live. This summer I won’t be able to go either, because the UK has decided, a year after the pandemic began, to implement a testing and quarantine system which should’ve been in place many months ago. I would pose very little risk coming from a country with very low numbers.

Measures are needed, yes, but the UK government seems to adopt them months after they should be put in place. That’s why they can’t win.

@TempsPerdu what a nasty comment from David Schitt, lockdown really brings out the worst in people. Hope you’re okay.