Breaking News Boris press conference tonight 14/05/21

[Whichjab]

So, is Monday under threat? Change to school masks or hugs?

[Delatron]

Do Australia subsidise quarantine hotels? Maybe people would think about whether travel really is essential if they needed to pay ££. Bit late now I guess.

[loginfail]

@Belladonna12

They could have subsidised or made the hotels free for those who arrived in the first week though to take into account the lack of warning. Obviously there is a cost to the UK for that but there's going to be a cost if there is a delay in lockdown lifting.

That could have been one solution..it might have thrown some domestic issues into the mix for some families but it would possibly have been better than what happened.

With the way the UK works cross border travel will have to continue to a greater or lesser extent - but IMHO for the foreseeable future people who do travel will have to be prepared for and have plans to cater for last minute changes in the rules - even those thinking a trip to/from a country on the green list this summer should, again IMHO, have a fallback plan to cater for it going amber or even red.

What can't be allowed is the lack of a plan B or C leading to people thinking it's OK to avoid any changes to quarantine measures.

[Belladonna12]

@Summercocktailsinthesnow

The charges for quarantine are extortionate, and forcing someone into hotel isolation without notice given is an issue if they simply do not have the funds to pay for it. I can see why the gov did not seek to do that to Indian families returning home.

They have now put India on the red list, so quarantine is now in place. I do believe it is in hand, and I can't get worked up about it. We are going to see this happening all of the time from all over the world. We need to close the borders.

They could have subsidised or made the hotels free for those who arrived in the first week though to take into account the lack of warning. Obviously there is a cost to the UK for that but there's going to be a cost if there is a delay in lockdown lifting.

[the80sweregreat]

My dad caught Asian flu in the sixties and was so poorly he nearly ended up in hospital. A doctor said to him then ' with the rise of the jet plane and more travel it will mean more diseases' : I often think about this when I hear of these different variants. It's obvious that they are spreading faster because the borders were not shut in time.

[loginfail]

We need to close the borders.

To leisure travel or to everybody?

[ChardonnaysPetDragon]

The charges for quarantine are extortionate, and forcing someone into hotel isolation without notice given is an issue if they simply do not have the funds to pay for it. I can see why the gov did not seek to do that to Indian families returning home

And now we all will be paying the price. Sorry, but they should have been quarantined. They knew the rules when they travelled and they knew the situation might change at any moment when they left the U.K.

[unwuthering]

They have now put India on the red list, so quarantine is now in place.

Christ on the little donkey - that is called bolting the stable after the horse has bolted.

I do believe it is in hand, and I can't get worked up about it.

Right... should be fine then.

[Summercocktailsinthesnow]

The charges for quarantine are extortionate, and forcing someone into hotel isolation without notice given is an issue if they simply do not have the funds to pay for it. I can see why the gov did not seek to do that to Indian families returning home.

They have now put India on the red list, so quarantine is now in place. I do believe it is in hand, and I can't get worked up about it. We are going to see this happening all of the time from all over the world. We need to close the borders.

[jasjas1973]

@Summercocktailsinthesnow

No said stop anyone returning home, its that they weren't forced into hotel isolation, once they get back to the UK.

[Summercocktailsinthesnow]

It is not at all clear to me how you can essentially lock people out of their home countries unwuthering Whether it is 20,000 or 20 people travelling back from India to the UK it is deeply unethical to refuse reentry back to their homes. I accept it is very far from ideal in a pandemic, I can see why the government made the decisions it did. It is perhaps even unlawful, so no it is not great, but with surge testing and being really all over the cases we do have, we hopefully will get on top of it.

It does underline the real bone of contention. Should the borders be open at all to anyone? And the answer to that, currently is no. We should close the borders, with prior warning and get on and do it before it is too late.

[unwuthering]

//www.thetimes.co.uk/article/indian-covid-variant-20-000-allowed-to-entered-uk-from-india-l7q608tgf

[jasjas1973]

So what is the standard international documentation for a PCR test presented to an airline in India etc?

Is it just a piece of paper?

[MarshaBradyo]

Feel free to do so but as a point fact potential passengers who failed Covid tests would not have travelled.

This is important isn’t it?

A PCR test, 72 hours before? If that’s right it should help

[Belladonna12]

@unwuthering

"At least 20,000 passengers who could have been infected with a virulent strain of Covid-19 were allowed to enter Britain while Boris Johnson delayed imposing a travel ban from India."

//www.thetimes.co.uk/article/indian-covid-variant-20-000-allowed-to-entered-uk-from-india

I'd call that a free for all.

The link doesn't work . They were tested and not allowed to travel if positive . While there may have been some false negatives or people incubating and not yet testing positive I very much doubt 20,000 would have been infected. The main problem probably was, people testing positive after arrival and not isolating.

[loginfail]

@unwuthering

"At least 20,000 passengers who could have been infected with a virulent strain of Covid-19 were allowed to enter Britain while Boris Johnson delayed imposing a travel ban from India."

//www.thetimes.co.uk/article/indian-covid-variant-20-000-allowed-to-entered-uk-from-india

I'd call that a free for all.

Feel free to do so but as a point fact potential passengers who failed Covid tests would not have travelled.

[Leonardsgirl]

I read yesterday about a doctor who travelled from Egypt with a fake covid certificate. She was fined, but not jailed. A doctor!! She said she thought it would be ok. It's a joke.

[unwuthering]

"At least 20,000 passengers who could have been infected with a virulent strain of Covid-19 were allowed to enter Britain while Boris Johnson delayed imposing a travel ban from India."

//www.thetimes.co.uk/article/indian-covid-variant-20-000-allowed-to-entered-uk-from-india

I'd call that a free for all.

[loginfail]

@Belladonna12

I don't think they were allowed on a flight to the UK if they tested positive either though.

Correct, it wasn't quite a "free for all".

[whataballbag]

[quote pam290358]**@redglobox. ‘The vulnerable are no longer at risk’. I am clinically vulnerable, contracted Covid in February, now fully vaccinated - last vaccine 3 weeks ago. Have just tested positive on a PCR test and starting to feel really unwell. So the above statement isn’t really true.[/quote]
Hope you're feeling better soon

[Belladonna12]

@vera99

Reported today that a repatriation flight to Australia from India, scheduled to bring 150 back in arrived with only 80 on board. 70 tested positive before take-off and were barred.

Never mind UK... free for all into the UK before India went Red and still no action from Johnson yet he is more popular than ever - collectively we have gone mad and there's the proof.

I don't think they were allowed on a flight to the UK if they tested positive either though. The difference between being on the red list and not is whether you have to isolate in a quarantine hotel regardless of the test results on arrival.

[KurtWilde]

Thanks Furries.

[vera99]

Reported today that a repatriation flight to Australia from India, scheduled to bring 150 back in arrived with only 80 on board. 70 tested positive before take-off and were barred.

Never mind UK... free for all into the UK before India went Red and still no action from Johnson yet he is more popular than ever - collectively we have gone mad and there's the proof.

[KurtWilde]

I think you're right Del, and yeah monumentally shit covers it nicely.

[theo12]

yep i agree!!!

[DelBocaVista]

We've been in perpetual lockdown here since last March, with just 3 weeks of 'freedom' last summer. I really hope we're not hit too hard with the Indian variant just as the promise of some normalcy is returning for local independent businesses etc.

I think we live in or near the same place Kurt.
It's been monumentally shit.