What happens if you test positive on holiday and can't fly home?

[Kittenss]

We have a week in Greece that we booked in 2019 and moved to this August. I am worried about rates going up and the risk of catching covid on the plane or at the hotel.

What happens if one of us were to test positive? We obviously wouldn't be able to fly home and would have to quarantine for 10 days but what if the covid test was still positive after that? Or what if one member of the family catches it on, say, day 7 of the quarantine. Does this mean we could be quarantining for weeks on end if we all catch it one after the other and have to wait until we all have negative tests? I can't find the answer to this anywhere online.

I really need this holiday as have had the year from hell and all of the UK holidays are booked up so I'm really keen to go but not sure if I will spend the whole time anxious about testing/getting home!

You pray you've got good insurance, and that you rag the t&c and exclusions intimately before you departed.

It’s a risk
You would have to pay for accommodation and your airline may let you change your flight but there would probably be a cost. I am not an insurance expert but I would imagine you would need specialist cover for that.
We got back from Spain at the weekend but due to various circumstances it would have been no more than inconvenient if one of us had tested positive before flying. If it had been a disaster I am not sure I would have risked going - I would have spent the entire holiday stressing about it

I have been in touch with our insurance for this exact reason. We have cover with our bank account and they have confirmed they would cover us if we get covid in destination as long as the FCDO are not advising against travel to that destination. Which Greek island are you visiting? Crete and Corfu still have advice against travel, think the others are Amber but advice has been lifted.

We're due to travel to Spain mid August and I've been running through every scenario in my head. I work in the industry and it's super confusing even for us!

We have flights booked and staying in friends apartment. If you're booked with a package travel company, they would also assist you.

It's not just testing positive away though, to worry about. What if someone actually become seriously ill? I couldn't face that risk this year abroad.

You DO test positive after having covid you wouldn't have a test as it would likely still show up. That's why you have to isolate for the correct number of days.

It is a risk you accept if you undertake foreign travel right now.

You would have to stay put.

Other risks include the UK changing its green/amber/red lists, other countries introducing quarantine on arrival for people arriving from the UK, local lockdowns in the place you travel to.

It depends where you are. They'll have processes. Some countries have quarantine hotels etc, that hopefully, your travel insurance would cover your stay in. Some have government facilities.

That’s why I wouldn’t even be contemplating going abroad this year, far too risky. They change the rules at the last minute, having to quarantine abroad for potentially weeks - no thanks! I feel for people like you that have had to keep postponing holidays but I’ll defo be sticking to the uk this year. Like a pp said, the thought of needing medical care abroad would worry me too, I’d much rather be at home. Just make sure you have excellent travel insurance and read all the tiny print!

Your (hopefully solid) travel insurance kicks in.

Each country has different processes, in most you would isolate for 10 days (and those of your household might need to do 14, so you'd all do 14 anyway). In principle, you shouldn't have to take another test after those days are over, because you risk still testing positive, plus you are now Covid-recovered and in eg the EU that would give you a 'Covid pass', akin to a negative test or vaccine certificate.

It would be interesting to find out whether the UK would waive the need for a negative test before you get on the plane back home. I have a friend who went to Italy in December for a family funeral and got asymptomatic Covid whilst there. Italy didn't actually allow her to take another test within 90 days of the initial positive swab, and she couldn't get on a plane back to London without a negative test. The UK also didn't recognise her antibodies certificate (which is valid in the EU). She didn't make it home until the end of March.

I'd say that was an extreme situation, but do some good research on the topic because that's what can happen by simply following local guidelines and UK return rules. They're all different.

Its a massive gamble and risk going abroad at the moment.

We should have gone abroad last year and cancelled as we didn’t want to take the risk. Also I have asthma and am a glasses wearer and it is bad enough wearing a mask in this country when its warm. It also wasn’t clear whether the hotel pool would be open or what the access would be like etc etc. Aside from the covid risk we decided a holiday abroad wouldn’t be the same i.e. fun, laid back and relaxing.

All that said, for me the risk is extremely worth it and so far I have 14 flights booked for this summer (mix of work - lots - and some holidays/family visits). I'm EU-based which makes things a little easier, but I've been travelling all year long and chances of catching Covid abroad are the same as catching it at home. So it doesn't bother me in the slightest, especially as you normally mix with less people when you go away, than you do at home.

You do have to be extremely relaxed about rules changing overnight, the possibility of testing positive somewhere along the way, and/or having to cut your holiday short or prolong it due to various reasons that you have no control over.

I also knew someone who this happened to in December. Wasn’t allowed to board a flight without a negative test, and unfortunately tested positive for over 2 months. He had to stay where he was ( luckily he was staying with family).

I guess it will depend on what the rules in the U.K. are for return at the time you fly.

Thanks. The island is Thassos so would be flying to mainland and then getting a boat across to the island. I don't know what healthcare is available on the island so that's another concern.

The Greek government pay for you to stay in a quarantine hotel for 10 days if you test positive but I'm not sure what happens if we need a negative test before flying home. That's my main concern - spending weeks in a tiny hotel room and being unable to come home.

Both adults are double vaccinated and no health conditions. Two children under 12.

We've had an awful year with lots of stress, health problems, bereavement etc. UK holidays are just not the same and don't provide the relaxation that a sunny all-inclusive holiday does. Also I have looked up UK holidays and there is hardly anything available and it's so expensive. I can't bear spending the summer in my own four walls again!

It's concerning that people above have said some people have been stuck abroad for weeks/months because they can't get a negative test. Is there any way of finding out for sure what would happen? I can't find any guidance online except the rule that you need a negative test to fly.

It's also a concern of ours that we could test positive in destination and get stuck there if we don't test negative even after isolation ends. It may be that the British Consulate would assist but, like you, can't find any clear guidance on this

@Kittenss it's the British government that insists on the negative test to return to UK. However they do accept lateral flow tests for the pre departure one which- I believe- are less likely to give a positive after the initial infection period.

But the situation is changing all the time so no one can give you cast iron guarantees about what would actually happen- hardly a relaxing holiday and main reason we decided to bin our Majorca trip.

You also need to work out the additional cost of testing, for us as a family with one DC teen in Scotland, even a Green country would cost £400 minimum.

I suspect a few people will try their luck abroad leading to some UK cancellations if you keep your eyes peeled.

And honestly if people choose to travel abroad knowing they could test positive, why should it be on the British consulate to bail them out?

With the greatest of respect thousands of us have had hellish years with horrible things happening personally and within families, but a lot of people can't afford to holiday abroad right now.

You don't need a holiday and there's the very real possibility you'll be stuck there in a quarantine hotel for at least a couple of weeks if you do happen to catch it. If you're prepared to take that risk, go for it, if not just get on with it like the rest of us and delay your holiday until it's totally risk-free to go.

I know we are lucky that we can afford a holiday at the moment but I don't really see how that's relevant. Just because some people can't afford it doesn't mean I shouldn't go on holiday.

And I do need a holiday actually. I'm not going to into the reasons why I've had such a hellish year but if you knew my circumstances I'm pretty sure you would agree that I really do need a break away from home.

I'm also not expecting the British consulate to bail me out. I have travel insurance and the Greek government pays for hotel quarantine anyway.

My question is what happens if you don't test negative for weeks/months. Are you just stuck there or is there an understanding that once you've done your 10 days isolation you can then travel again? I can't find any information on this.

I think the short answer is there are no guidelines- certainly in the gov uk website- that covers the what if scenario of continued positive testing abroad.
That means unfortunately worst case scenario could apply. I would imagine after a few instances where people do test positive for a long period they'll need to state something, but to me it's all part of the yes you can travel abroad but actually if you lift up the bonnet, there's lots of sensible reasons why you wouldn't, particularly with DCs.

A break away from home need not involve travelling out of the UK.

Perhaps worth finding the Greek embassy website online and seeing if that provides any information.

The problem is that you can investigate and plan for every possible scenario now, but things can change so quickly. For me personally it just wouldn’t be worth the hassle and it certainly wouldn’t make for a relaxing holiday. Plenty of people have had extremely challenging times but I don’t think a holiday abroad is really something that anyone ‘deserves’ more than anyone else. I do really feel for those with family abroad though and would probably be more likely to risk travelling to see family, particularly if you had the option to stay there if you become ill.

I was in same position yesterday with a trip booked to Greece. I cancelled due to uncertainty and I would worry too much at the airports.My teenage daughter recently caught covid despite 2 injections and I don't want to risk being ill abroad.

I have noticed the ‘NHS pass’ allows for people who have tested positive within the last 6 months to count as ‘safe’, the same as someone who is double-jabbed, OR someone who has tested negative in the last 48 hours.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/covid-pass/

I don’t think this pass is used for travel though? We have not looked into travelling abroad.

@BoxHedge for Scotland it explicitly states that even if you have had Covid recently, you still require a negative test to get back in the country. Not sure if that's the same for England.

Ultimately too much of a gamble and cost for us to have a relaxing holiday. Just waiting for the Daily Mail sad faces of those stuck abroad blaming everyone but themselves. It's a huge and known risk when weighing up if you should travel abroad or not.

We had a holiday booked for Greece in July 2020 and moved the booking to this year. We moved it again to next year because even though we would be vaccinated, DS9 wouldn't be.

So the scenarios going through my head were that we would be at the mercy of the Greek authorities and how they decide to contain us and for how long. For example, if only DS had it, would he be quarantined alone? Or developed breathing issues and required hospital admission would we be allowed in? Would we be confined to the hotel and if so, how would we feed ourselves or get necessary supplies from the pharmacist or supermarket if we aren't allowed out of the room? Does one of us travel home if negative leaving the other parent there? Or if DH got it, would I have to leave him there alone and travel home with DS? All sorts of scenarios that are difficult at the very best of times but abroad in a foreign country with a language barrier, I'd not be confident.

As well as that, lots of travel insurers were quick to exclude covid related claims and assistance so you really need to check exactly what they'd provide.

I worked in Travel Medical Insurance and out of all European healthcare systems, Greece's is dire, even their private care is very poor. So that put me off as well. As much as I really need a holiday, I'm waiting until next year when we have a better idea what we are dealing with.