If you tested positive while abroad...

[Nathalie1975]

...how long did it take until you were able to fly back to the UK?
Apparently you can still test positive for weeks after having recovered from covid so does that mean you can't fly home? Are there exemptions for people who have recently had covid and are trying to get home?

We are about to fly to France to visit family and I am trying to plan for worse case scenario.

You do your isolation and can then go home. I shouldn’t think there are exemptions if you have already had covid as you can get it more than once. There was a girl on This Morning whose friend tested positive in Majorca, they were collected from their hotel and taken to another hotel, where they are guaranteeing for 10 days. They only went for 4 days and as they’ve only had one jab, they will still have to isolate again back in the uk. They also don’t know who is paying for the hotel they are isolating in, hopefully they have adequate insurance.

What I mean is what happens if once you have done your isolation you still test positive? Apparently you can still test positive for weeks or months. So how do you get home if you can't get a negative test?

You don’t need a negative test so long as you can prove that you are past the isolation period of 10 days, you can test positive for 90 days but not be infectious.

Oh ok thanks. I didn't know that.

I was under the impression you will need a negative pcr test to fly back to the UK....I know of someone who caught covid abroad and couldn't get back until they tested negative...and that could be weeks... you need to check with the airline....

I would also like to understand this as you need a negative PCR to fly back to the U.K. and I can’t see any exemption for a recent case of Covid. However, you’re not meant to have another PCR until 90 days after testing positive.

Yes it is not very clear. I was hoping someone it happened to would come along and clarify.

In Majorca it's only antigen you take to fly back initially....not sure if they do follow up pcr is antigen is positive or whether they use pcr or antigen to allow you home afterwards.....

I've been wondering this too, attached from the Tui website

@BunsyGirl

I would also like to understand this as you need a negative PCR to fly back to the U.K. and I can’t see any exemption for a recent case of Covid. However, you’re not meant to have another PCR until 90 days after testing positive.

If you’ve recently had a confirmed case of covid (within 90 days) it’s generally accepted that you are no longer infectious even though you may test positive after the required isolation period. It’s highly unlikely that you would have a new infection within 90 days due to recent antibodies. That’s why some countries are specifying proof of complete vaccination or proof of recent infection.

Routine PCR’s are to identify new infections that would otherwise go undetected and therefore be infectious.

I think you can get something called a recovery certificate - but I guess it depends on the country. This is what puts me off going, though half my household now has Covid so maybe we will all had it by the time we go away in august

@BunsyGirl - actually, I see what you’re asking, the UK doesn’t seem to specify what the recently recovered are meant to do if they continue to test positive after their isolation/recovery period.. that’s a bit off but there must be something somewhere???

@Cornettoninjav Yes, I am not actually worried about the country I am travelling to as they only require proof of double vaccination. It’s getting back to the U.K. which is unclear. I think I have Covid now (awaiting PCR result) and we are going on holiday abroad in five weeks time.

I have just found this on the scottish government website (I am in scotland):

"Previous positive test results

If you have recently tested positive for coronavirus and more than 10 days have passed since your positive test, you may be concerned that you will test positive pre-departure and this will prevent you from travelling. Evidence of prior infection does not remove the requirement to provide a negative pre-departure test to travel to Scotland, or once in Scotland. This is to mitigate against the risk of re-infection with a different variant of coronavirus.

If you have had Covid-19 in the last 90 days, we would recommend that you select a lateral flow device (LFD) for pre-departure testing, as LFDs are significantly less likely to give persistent positives for someone who has tested positive within the previous 90 days. As above, LFDs must meet the minimum standards of 97% specificity and 80% sensitivity. "

I know someone stuck in South Africa for this reason. Went back for a funeral, caught Covid and still testing positive. Been apart from wife and kids for more than 3 weeks now. Might be different for red list though.

@Nathalie1975 That’s helpful. Whatever happens I’m going to make sure that we have lateral flow tests to return as there have been cases at my DCs school in the past couple of weeks so it concerns me that they could have had Covid asymptomaticically and it then shows up in a PCR test six weeks later.

Some airlines will not let you board without a negative PCR test. You need to be aware of that.

I was asked to show my covid test results at passport control when I arrived in Britain mid June.

Depends on the country that you're in/transiting through and the airline. Some will insist on negative PCR tests.

It'd be totally mad to go out of your home country without excellent travel insurance atm. In many places you'll have to pay for your own quarantine.