Germany has moved Britain to their "red list"

[Opus17]

I was meant to fly home on Tuesday after 2 and a half years. Now it would mean a PCR before we come back and a 14 day quarantine, regardless of vaccination status. Very unlikely we'll be able to go now.
My mum was out buying our food shop this morning and we were chatting about our Tuesday evening plans.
I'm devastated.

@Blackbird2020 that's true too. It has affected so many people again. I've always followed the rules and understood why restrictions were needed but I'm struggling at the moment to see why they have done this again and not implemented the lockdown earlier when it was needed to let us have our Christmas this year.
Do you happen to know if those living with people returning from Risikogebiete also have to quaratine for 14 days? I've tried googling /reading govt websites and I'm finding nothing. We called the hotline and no one there Sundays. My husband is suggesting we still debate me and DS going but I'm not sure if DH will have to isolate with us regardless since he is staying in the same house when we arrive back.

I honestly have no idea. I would hazard a guess that your DH wouldn’t have to self-isolate, as he hasn’t returned from a red list country and he’s not a close contact of a confirmed case. If you were to test positive during isolation that would change, I guess.

The family next door has a situation last year where the father was a close contact through work and had to self-isolate at home for 2 weeks. He remained negative throughout and the mother and 2 kids continued their lives normally the whole time.

To be honest, it’s going to be chaos in about 2-3 weeks from now once Omicron gets going. He’ll probably be working from home anyway!

Or he’ll be a close contact himself! Or he’ll be the one testing positive! Omicron is inescapable! I honestly don’t know how Germany will cope, in our state I believe they still request people who are close contacts to self-isolate, at least until returning a negative PCR. Literally everyone will be self-isolating in a months time!

What happens if you test positive for Covid while in the UK then try to return to Germany?

I’m in the US, and many people here are cancelling their UK trips because if they test positive while in the UK it becomes so difficult to return home. You need a letter from a medical professional confirming your recovery as well as negative tests.

In case this is of help to anyone, it seems that Germany are accepting LFTs as well as PCRs:

www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/germany/entry-requirements

This is good news for anyone stressing about trying to organise a Fit to Fly PCR test over the various bank holidays (plus the inevitable staff shortages). This means you can order a LFT pre-departure test to be sent to your home, which you then do yourself and upload the photo of the LFT with your corresponding ID. You then receive the necessary proof of negative test document within a few hours via email.

Hope that helps! I believe Randox and Prenetics offer this service, but I’ve not used either company for this type of test yet.

That’s incorrect @Blackbird2020. The gov.uk website isn’t up to date - only PCRs are accepted coming from variant risk countries.

www.rki.de/DE/Content/InfAZ/N/Neuartiges_Coronavirus/Risikogebiete_neu.html

Please don’t use anything other than the official sources of the country of destination when quoting travel requirements. This is a mistake people often do and then try to argue with airport/border staff as to why their paperwork is enough - when it isn’t, as per the country’s official guidance.

Thank you for correcting that @EileenGC

Terrible that the U.K. government website could be that inept at updating basic entry requirement information. Your RK link clearly doesn’t mention LFTs at all.

I'm so sorry

Just been onto the Lufthansa website (aware that not everyone will be flying, or flying with this airline). But they have the final say on whether you can get on their planes when flying into Germany and they say:

für Virusvarianzgebiete frühestens 24 Stunden (Antigen-Test) bzw. 72 Stunden (PCR-, RT-LAMP oder TMA-Test) vor der Einreise vorgenommen werden,

Which roughly translates as for those coming from a variant risk country (as of tomorrow for the U.K.) LFTs are acceptable if taken in the preceding 24hrs before a flight.

Given that they have a responsibility not to accept people who borders control would reject (as LH would have to fly them back if they were found to be negligent) I’m inclined to think that LFTs are acceptable, at least for those flying this airline.

Obviously please all check yourselves and make your own call on this!

Sorry, here’s the LH link:

www.lufthansa.com/de/de/corona-tests

We've decided to go but fly back earlier than planned.
Mil has made us feel AWFUL about it. But my family are happy at least. Hoping it goes smoothly. I'm a bit anxious and hoping we're doing the right thing.

Thanks for the info about the tests. I reckon we'll just book PCRs again to be on the safe side!

Sorry to hear that you’re getting grief from your MIL @Opus17 I used to dread thinking what our tiny town thought of our U.K. plans (everyone knows everything!) but I’m past that stage now!

I’ll happily follow the rules, but nothing more. My family and my own mental health come before bowing to other people’s opinions on how best to conduct oneself during a pandemic!

Sorry that your DH can’t be with you, but I hope you nevertheless have a lovely British Christmas!!

Oh sorry, I re-read and see that maybe your DH can join you after all! Great news!

@Blackbird2020 thank you so much! And I hope you have a lovely Christmas too. DH is actually coming now, we managed to compromise by coming home earlier!