Travelling after recovering from covid - rules re pcr?

[Globetrotter123]

Hi can anyone help with this? OH has to travel for work to a country that asks for a PCR as well as proof vaccine etc. By the time he goes it would be 5 weeks since he had covid. U.K. gov website says don’t retest within 90 days!

Has anyone dealt with this? Effectively if he has to take a pcr 3 days before departing he could find he still tests positive and would be in big trouble! Thanks

If the country wants a PCR test and he is positive he can't enter. Just have to hope that he will be testing negative by that stage.

CV and travel www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/4391622-cv-and-travel

Thanks a lot. Yes looks like no way round it and he will have to do a trial pcr next week to see if he is out of the woods yet . Seems nuts given the number of infections that this is still a problem.

I’ve been reading about people going on cruises to the Caribbean needing negative PCR and obviously there is a problem if PCR is still coming up positive and they cannot go. Your DH could do LFT before paying for private PCR tests.

Thanks yes we’ll do a few LF too, however while family had it and only one of us had a positive Lf! He’s self employed so serious disaster if he can’t go as it’s a 10 day work trip !

I thought a ‘recovery certificate’ could be used in place of a negative PCR (unless you are 12-15, in which case you’re screwed because they didn’t think that through!)?

I think the recovery certificate is only in eu? He is going to Middle East

He can’t
I have the same issue
If you get a positive pcr you can’t travel sadly
There is a covid recovery cert you can get from nhs app but unsure where it’s accepted

Is the pcr mandatory ? Some places accept a paid for lateral flow

we had this issue with wanting to go to middle east - we were told if he has another positive pcr test not only will he not be able to go on his trip the nhs will expect him to isolate for 10 days so check the rules before he tests.

what???! so the NHS will make you isolate even if they know it's a false positive?

Globe i think only if it’s an nhs test and they know
Do private tests send data to track and trace ?

I've just called Test and Trace and they said it would count as another self isolation (even if they can clearly work out it's a false positive from a previous infection). I had read that a private lab has to report to test and trace also? They just kept saying that's why they advise no testing for 90 days! So we can't risk a trial test either as he would be flagged as infectious on the app again. Going to have to risk cancelling whole trip 2 days before if he's positive. Absolutely nuts. There must be so many people struggling with this from a business perspective.

It’s a bummer
Not that we didn’t know !!! So if I have covid in nov , I can’t even travel until feb 2022 at the earliest

I've just called Test and Trace and they said it would count as another self isolation (even if they can clearly work out it's a false positive from a previous infection).

This is the standard advice it's true, and it may well be what an initial call from Test and Trace will tell you. But in practice you can get around it. You need to ask to speak to a medically qualified manager or supervisor (not just the person making the call) and explain the circumstances and why it's a 'false positive'. Once you speak to someone who actually understands the science they will tell you that isolation rules do not apply. You might have to be quite pushy…

Passed PCR on day 25. Stressful!