Post July travel abroad

[justwanttodanceagain]

So if Boris lifts most of the restrictions at the end of July because " the link between infections and hospitalisations has been broken", and we stop worrying about rising infection numbers (may not happen of course, but seems likely), what do people think other countries are going to do?

I mean most other countries are somewhat behind us with vaccinations - is the UK going to become a pariah state, like India is currently? We get our "freedom" back, but can't actually leave the country!

Yep.

By end of July we’ll be on the Red list of every country we’d be wanting to visit.

I honestly don’t know. I follow the situation very closely, as I’m in the US, and my parents are in the UK. Honestly, there is zero talk from the White House about reopening borders. It concerns me a great deal, as I can’t see it happening this year.

I think travelling will be the sacrifice we make to have everything else back to normal to be honest.

I only really know the status of Switzerland, but here the UK was taken off the quarantine list yesterday. Everyone over 18 who wants to be vaxed will have had first dose by first week in July at the lastest, and as the gap between doses is 4 weeks, means most will be double vaccinated by early August. They are starting the over 12s in July (already started over 16s in some cantons).
And lots of restrictions are going on Saturday - masks are needed for indoor public spaces and a covid cert for nightclubs are about the only restrictions that will be left as far as I can see. No limits on dining, no capacity limits for museums, cinemas etc, indoor choirs are allowed again. Large events over 1000 people will need a covid cert (vaccination or neg pcr test).

@HoppSuisse- well done Switzerland, sounds like they really are on top of their vaccinations and that is why they would be ok with having U.K. tourists but only vaccinated ones? The German chancellor said yesterday that U.K. should be on every red list in the EU - but essentially she doesn’t want the Delta variant taking off even more because she has failed to reach high enough vaccination rates in her own population. So I think the answer is that we will cope with Delta because we are on top of vaccinations and so would Switzerland but not sure about other countries with lower rates so they might be more prudent. There is of course also Brexit and Covid entanglement and there is easyJet moving and cancelling many flights from U.K.

I think people underestimate how much other countries value uk tourism

Many rely on it

Many - particularly Greece - have been vaccinating their resorts/islands fully so the UK coming in with high cases wont make any difference as their people are vaccinated in those areas

Our government nhas made it clear that once people have been offered vaccination then its unreasonable to carry on restrictions - they'll have done everything they can. Other countries likely feel the same

Plus the restriction/economy balance will sway the other way - people in say balaerics are hitting the food banks etc in massive numbers.

Spain have already said theyll let anyone in no testing or isolation

Surely other countries like Spain and Greece are desperate for the tourism?

When will most people be double vaccinated? Adults by July? They have started on the 18-25 year olds last week.

That’s good news re Switzerland. I hope Merkel doesn’t talk more other EU countries into introducing quarantine for double vaccinated people from the UK. It’s madness, she won’t be able to stop the delta variant anyway.

@HoppSuisse do you know what the rules are for children of fully vaccinated Brits?

I think Spain and Greece will be ok. The others not. It depends if they bow under pressure from Germany as they also get a lot of German tourists.

Spain are planning on fully vaccinated not to have to quarantine on contact with a positive case

english.elpais.com/society/2021-06-23/fully-vaccinated-in-spain-will-no-longer-have-to-quarantine-if-they-come-into-contact-with-a-positive-case.html

But I do think it will be very slim pickings on places to go if our rates remain high.

I'm waiting for the US border.

@Schulte - This is what they say about children (applies to all children, their parents dont need to be vaccinated)-

Children under the age of 12 are never required to provide proof of a negative coronavirus test on entering Switzerland. They are exempt from the test requirement on boarding and from the test requirement at the Swiss border.

For young people aged between 12 and 16, the same applies as for children, as long as they are not travelling from a country that is on the FOPH list of risk countries due to a variant of concern.

Just to note - the FOPH list is from 17 June and not yet updated, but yesterdays press conference said UK will be removed from it from 28th June.

@hoppsuisse- so Switzerland has not yet released guidance on children/under 16s of fully vaccinated Brits. France treats them as exempt from quarantine but still requires pcr tests for children above a certain age (can’t remember exact age). Switzerland seems to be saying fully vaccinated adult Brits don’t even need a pcr test nor quarantine. Will be interesting to see what applies to the children/teenagers of those adults- hopefully no quarantine but maybe 12 and over would need a pcr.

Angela Merkel really cannot dictate what other countries do - she doesn’t own the EU. The French are unlikely to bow to her wishes and the Eastern European nations don’t like the dominance of the Germans anyway. If she doesn’t want her Germans mixing freely in Spain with Brits then she needs to stop her citizens going on holiday but as that would tank her popularity she isn’t going to do that. It might actually be better for some EU countries to get delta out of the way end of summer rather than autumn.

I think Spain and Greece will be OK. And according to the FCO website you don't need a test to enter Greece, if you have had both jabs, you can show proof of that. I think Spain don't require tests either.

I have to make a decision today pretty much about whether to go to a green list place (assuming Malta or Madeira go green, which they may well not), or wait until late August. Inclined to think late August as even with green places you have to do about 3 tests per person and that's suddenly seeming like a lot of faff to organise, plus I have an irrational fear of the plane to the destination being sufficiently delayed that the 72 hour test validity window is stuffed up. Argh.

Sunnyfreeze - Germany has vaccinated more people than Switzerland and more people twice.

I don’t think Merkel will be able to get the other Eu countries to stop travel from Britain. Most countries have more proportionate entry requirements than Britain, even though Britain is demonstrably more risky now than other European countries.

Yeah just have to wait and see what other countries decide on their entry requirements. Not a lot anyone can do about that.

Agree. Spain and Greece heavily rely on us for tourism. The Greek islands have a goal to vaccinate all their population by the end of June so the tourist season can go ahead.

Thanks for the information, fingers crossed...

@Sunnyfreezesushin - so Switzerland has not yet released guidance on children/under 16s of fully vaccinated Brits. France treats them as exempt from quarantine but still requires pcr tests for children above a certain age (can’t remember exact age). Switzerland seems to be saying fully vaccinated adult Brits don’t even need a pcr test nor quarantine.

From 28th June - fully vaccinated Brits will not need a PCR test, and neither will their children under 16 (who will not be vaccinated) so long as they are travelling from the UK and not been to a country on the concern list in the previous 10 days. Adults over 16 from the UK will need proof of vaccination OR proof of recovery from Covid in last 6 months OR negative PCR (72 hours old) - their children need nothing. They will not need to quarantine.
Both adults and children will need to have completed the entry form (children can go on their parents, they don't need their own). They will need proof of their vaccination/recovery - and I am guessing that would be something like the EU covid certificate but I don't actually know what the UK are using (assume its some kind of QRS code that would be scanned?) I know that the Swiss Covid Cert has been approved as compatible with the EU one (can can be used from July 1st), and would hope its the same for the UK.

Entry Requirements
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I personally think this is going to cause trouble with the neighboring countries, as people could fly to Switzerland to avoid tests required by other countries (particularly as India is also being taken off the FOPH list), and then travelling by land is not as well regulated as by air.

Italy is second after Germany for vaccinations (X population) administered (or was last week) and is onto over 12s.

We are still in ten days quarantine entering the UK and five on the way back though.

I think Germans count for the biggest numbers of tourists here and they're already coming. DD and I were in our nearest big city yesterday and there were lots of tourists.

The Green Pass going live on the 1st July I think will open the tourist floodgates.

Sure, let's live in perpetual semi lockdown so some privileged people can go on holidays abroad.

No ta.

I think there will be some countries that will not admit people from the UK without quarantine.

@Waxonwaxoff0

I think travelling will be the sacrifice we make to have everything else back to normal to be honest.

Sacrifice for who? Just because you are willing to accept it that doesn't mean it's ok. It's not ok when your family is abroad. Traveling for me it's not a luxury it's a necessity to see my parents. I'm not willing to sacrifice that

@imforourfreedomback

Where did I say it was ok? It's just what I think will happen. I love going abroad but I think it will be made incredibly difficult for a while. As for not being willing to sacrifice it, you won't have much choice if other countries won't let us in which many are reluctant to do at the moment.

@Waxonwaxoff0

I think travelling will be the sacrifice we make to have everything else back to normal to be honest.

We're off on holiday to the Greek Islands next week. Booked it in 2019. Had to change our flights 3 times in the last month or so but now it looks like it's on!