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Quarantine check ups after holiday - how do they work?

60 replies

IAmTheWaiting · 14/08/2020 13:42

Has anybody actually experienced follow up texts or calls since coming back off holiday and going into 14 days quarantine? Just wondering what to expect.

OP posts:
fuzzyduck1 · 26/08/2020 10:05

Don’t think there are any check ups on quarantine. They just rely on the people to quarantine. But then if you don’t want to there is nothing to stop you going out and possibly infecting all your loved ones if you have anything.

CrumpetsAndPuzzles · 26/08/2020 10:32

@fuzzyduck1 Well said. No check ups apart from some people getting a phone call. We, and other people we know, certainly didn’t get a phone call, but we still stayed at home.

SubordinateThatClause · 26/08/2020 11:38

I returned to the U.K. via eurotunnel on Monday. Was asked if I had completed the form but not to show it. So far nothing in the way of check up.

I'm bored already but will follow the rules, even though I've not been anywhere but my elderly parents' house and the supermarket (where EVERYONE is masked up) for the last 3 weeks.

Frazzled2207 · 26/08/2020 11:44

I have heard that one in 5 people get a call to check they are at home.
But if you give a mobile number I don’t think they have any way of knowing where you actually are.
Another totally nonsensical rule, like the one that atm (I’m in GM), I can go to the pub/restaurant/cinema/work but apparently not able to have a cup of tea with my own mother in the garden. 10% of people won’t follow the rules anyway and they create misery for the other 90%.

Not being able to exercise is ridiculous. Rightly or wrongly it’s there to discourage people from going abroad in the first place. But very harsh for those who flew off when there was no quarantine coming back from that country and it is installed at just a few hours notice. Seriously, why not give these people 3/4 days to get back?

johnstownflood · 26/08/2020 11:51

The flying to another country to avoid quarantine will only shorten the duration of your quarantine. Say you fly from Spain to Ireland and then home you have to deduct the time spent in Ireland from the fourteen days quarantine once home but you still have to do the balance.

Aragog · 26/08/2020 11:56

Can someone please explain to me why the quarantine after travel rules are so incredibly strict compared to the first national lockdown, or local lockdowns? To not be allowed out of the house for 14 days, not even for exercise/a dog walk,seems extreme. Surely more people would comply if exercise was allowed.

It's the same with track and trace too.
The person who gets the notification has 14 days on being in the house, but the rest of the household (if hadn't been in the same location for the T&T) are free to carry in as normal.

I have a friend only recently contacted about it so they're currently isolating, as per orders. They've been tested which is negative.
Risk was minimal too. They stayed is a hostel for 2 nights. A man who stayed the day they arrived tested positive, but didn't tell the hostel until 2 days later, which is when t&t was sent out.
Friend didn't see anyone else around - it was exceptional quiet, didn't share a room, room was en-suite so no communal bathrooms, bar/communal area was closed, and besides they were only in the hostel to check in and then to sleep as they were out from early til late on a long walk.
The only potential risk was from the hostel front door handle or the reception desk surfaces.

But despite this he now has to stay home for a fortnight, not even allowed out for a run. He will do this but the risk must be much less than when he goes to the supermarket normally where no t&t exists.

Yet next week I go back to school and even if a child in my classroom tests positive we don't isolate. We have to wait for at least 2 positives before that happens.

None of it really makes sense, nor is it logical.

Bathroom12345 · 26/08/2020 12:00

It really is a load of rubbish. If they track you by GPS and call you and say you arent at home are you surely you would leave your phone at home.

And exactly who is tracking you via GPS? Some young person brought in to make some calls? I am not sure that I like the sound of that.

My SIL was called when she came back from abroad. They said the call was being recorded and she was asked whether she understood what self isolation meant a few days in. She asked about buying food stating she couldnt get an online delivery and they said they would prefer her to stay in but that she could go out for essentials.

Of course you could get someone via the Volunteer scheme. I am a volunteer and have had ONE call over the last 6 months to help someone who didnt know what I was talking about when I called him!

Also, who wants to buy a weekly shop for 4 adults? I normally spend £150 per shop.

InDeoEstMeaFiducia · 26/08/2020 12:15

Don't know anyhow who's been called at all. Again, you could just leave your phone at home and say you were drunk, asleep, in the shower, having sex, in the garden, etc. How are they going to know?

The no exercise is stupid and draconian, a lot of people don't have gardens. It's just to put people off going abroad and/or punishment.

T&T is equally stupid. Won't go any place that requires it.

myfriendflicka9 · 26/08/2020 18:08

It does seem a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut....after 10 days of quarantine the likelihood of you developing Covid if you haven’t already is very low (something like 3.5 percent of all cases take this long to develop)....compound this with the fact that most people have come back from countries where the rate per 100000 has only just tipped over 20 (so you have a 0.02 % chance of catching it)....by day 11 if you have no symptoms the probability of you going on to develop it are something like 0.007 % It does seem a bit mad that (a) it’s so strict and (b) it’s so long.

SubordinateThatClause · 27/08/2020 13:17

@myfriendflicka9

It does seem a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut....after 10 days of quarantine the likelihood of you developing Covid if you haven’t already is very low (something like 3.5 percent of all cases take this long to develop)....compound this with the fact that most people have come back from countries where the rate per 100000 has only just tipped over 20 (so you have a 0.02 % chance of catching it)....by day 11 if you have no symptoms the probability of you going on to develop it are something like 0.007 % It does seem a bit mad that (a) it’s so strict and (b) it’s so long.
But you could be asymptomatic and have developed it on day 4 or 5. You would be infectious.

Not sure why a daily walk with a mask on is forbidden though. I'm 3 days in. No garden. Going mad.

OddBoots · 27/08/2020 13:26

@Planetzog

Can someone please explain to me why the quarantine after travel rules are so incredibly strict compared to the first national lockdown, or local lockdowns? To not be allowed out of the house for 14 days, not even for exercise/a dog walk,seems extreme. Surely more people would comply if exercise was allowed.
My guess would be that they have done that so they can go to the address listed at any time and if you aren't there it is simple to issue a fine rather than there being a burden of proof about permitted activities. They might just want us to think that though!
myfriendflicka9 · 27/08/2020 15:30

Lol - but you are allowed to quarantine in a house with other housemates that haven’t travelled and they are ok to go about their business as usual - what if you are asymptomatic and pass it to all of them? None of it makes much sense to be honest. And I honestly can’t see why walking the dog in an isolated place is going to endanger other people - especially when people in high density cities with pretty high levels of Covid in the uk are still allowed to go to the pub....the government clearly thinks we are all imbeciles and can’t make our own judgements about what is risky and what it not, hence the draconian nature of these rules.

Aragog · 27/08/2020 16:08

All this and then todays article about the man on the RyanAir flight - iI saw it on Twitter linked from some newspaper or other. Man gets positive result from test but still catches his flight. 10 minutes after being on the plane, having already been in the airport (albeit wearing a mask apparently) hamlet suited men take him off. His seats and overhead cabin are cleaned and plane goes off on its way with a short delay.

None of the people on that flight, with a positive case, need to quarantine, even if home in UK in less than 14 days (it was to an exempt country I believe.)

Yet via T&T like my friend - he has to self isolate for 14 days despite having no contact with anyone, except someone tested positive who stayed there on there first night (friend never saw any other guests his whole stay.) He's already had a negative test come back but has to wait the full 14 days just incase.

And despite him now in self isolation/quarantine, his wife and his small child can still go out and about, go to work and - next week - go to school.

None of it really makes much sense and it just isn't consistent.

notimagain · 27/08/2020 18:36

The flying to another country to avoid quarantine will only shorten the duration of your quarantine. Say you fly from Spain to Ireland and then home you have to deduct the time spent in Ireland from the fourteen days quarantine once home but you still have to do the balance.

Thats correct but of course a problem with ensuring compliance with that process could arise if an individual forgets to tell a UK Border Official/HMG via a PLF of their travel history prior to Ireland...

Frazzled2207 · 27/08/2020 20:38

Regarding the ryanair incident. I am alarmed/impressed that authorities tracked him down so quickly. In fact how can they know he was even on the flight? Perhaps authorities can access flight manifests to keep track of everyone that has tested positive.
Clearly those people do need to be tracked more closely than those retuning from abroad who most likely don’t have the virus.

Frazzled2207 · 27/08/2020 20:48

@Aragog
Re your friend, that is ridiculous and I would find it v hard to adhere to that.
I went to a cafe recently which was very large and airy -I had to fill in my details. Which weren’t time stamped. No problem with that.
Unlike restaurants it was sit-where-you-like so there cannot have been any record of where everyone was sat, although there could have been cctv I suppose.

Which begs the question if one person who was at the cafe that day tests positive are they going to ask everyone who was at the cafe that day, regardless of where they were sat, to self-isolate? I watched my table (all very spaced out) be sanitised before I sat down so unless they could prove to me that said person was extremely close, I would really struggle to believe there was anything more than a theoretical risk.

FusionChefGeoff · 27/08/2020 20:56

Can you 'get out' of quarantine by getting a negative test??

OddBoots · 27/08/2020 21:09

@FusionChefGeoff

Can you 'get out' of quarantine by getting a negative test??
I wouldn't have thought so as you wouldn't always test positive straight away.
notimagain · 28/08/2020 07:00

Can you 'get out' of quarantine by getting a negative test??

AFAIK not in the UK, not at the moment...

LEELULUMPKIN · 28/08/2020 09:26

The track and trace thing is crap too. How many folk just put a false address if requested by bar staff?

I bet loads do it!

myfriendflicka9 · 28/08/2020 13:12

I know people that won’t make online bookings at restaurants anymore and either just show up or make a phone call - purely to escape having to leave any real contact details. No one wants to be receiving a call from test and trace that will result in a 14 day isolation.....

InDeoEstMeaFiducia · 28/08/2020 13:30

@LEELULUMPKIN

The track and trace thing is crap too. How many folk just put a false address if requested by bar staff?

I bet loads do it!

Yep, and a fake phone number.
Aragog · 28/08/2020 14:13

Frazzled2207

I agree, it is ridiculous. I think he's even more annoyed as its actually he annual leave too so he can't do anything he'd planned with his DS, or take him into school etc. He and his DW (who is at work during this time) are having to rely on parents to help out, over a time when he was hoping to do it himself.

He's sticking to it but is annoyed about it, simply as the risk is so minimal in this situation.

TantieTowie · 03/09/2020 16:51

Didn't the Ryanair man get his positive result come through while he was on the plane? And then he told cabin crew?

This is what Sky said: news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-hazmat-officials-remove-man-from-ryanair-flight-after-text-tells-him-of-positive-covid-19-test-result-12057854

IwishIwasyoda · 03/09/2020 16:57

They don't. They are completely dependent on people doing the right thing and cannot be policed in the slightest. I am well aware of people coming back from holiday and lying about where they've been and ignoring quarantine. BUT no one is actually policing the system / able to do anything.

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