International travellers to require negative PCR test to enter England

[Cdd89]

An indirect flight is going to be tricky due to previous complications with Uncle Sam.

Ouch.

If you’re looking at routings via other countries I’d recommend consulting TIMATIC which is the most comprehensive record of all entry requirements and restrictions globally from anywhere to anywhere. It’s accessible here (nothing to do with United Airlines, that’s just one of the portals):

https://www.united.com/en/us/timatic?i=TIMATIC

 

[Trackman]

Ouch.

If you’re looking at routings via other countries I’d recommend consulting TIMATIC which is the most comprehensive record of all entry requirements and restrictions globally from anywhere to anywhere. It’s accessible here (nothing to do with United Airlines, that’s just one of the portals):

https://www.united.com/en/us/timatic?i=TIMATIC

The only other one is a flight to Cuba then onto Madrid.
Guess what, flights to Cuba suspended
Panama could be an option, but it sounds like a real faff and gave up looking for the route.
ps: that website is throwing a wobbler with me at the moment.

 

[Yew]

I was wondering how it would work if you leave some remote island with no testing facilities.

A remote island with no testing facilities sounds pretty good to me!

 

[Bikeman78]

COVID-19: Travellers arriving in England, Wales and Scotland will need negative tests to be granted entry

All passengers from international destinations - including UK nationals - will need to have tested negative for coronavirus.

news.sky.com

Just announced a few minutes ago. Only England so far, but I would be surprised if the other nations don't follow suit rather quickly.

What happens if the test is positive? How many hotels will be willing to put someone up for 10 days if they have Covid?

 

[kristiang85]

What happens if the test is positive? How many hotels will be willing to put someone up for 10 days if they have Covid?

It works fine in other countries. And hotels will be happy with the business given they have to shut otherwise.

 

[Yew]

There's still no evidence that it'll actually make a difference, this seems more about being politically popular than in any way effective.

 

[Cdd89]

At some point we need to get away from “rapid tests are less reliable than lab based PCR tests” as a reason not to use rapid tests.

An 80% reliable rapid test at an airport is better than a 99.x% reliable PCR test 3 days prior. Not to mention much more convenient.

 

[RomeoCharlie71]

PCR testing to come into effect from Friday. https://twitter.com/SkyNewsBreak/status/1348758447806963713

The government has announced the requirement for travellers arriving in England to test negative for COVID-19 prior to departure will begin at 4am on Friday

Of course it's been announced at 10pm in true government style.

 

[Trackman]

PCR testing to come into effect from Friday. https://twitter.com/SkyNewsBreak/status/1348758447806963713


Of course it's been announced at 10pm in true government style.

Sounds like a leak, nothing on the sky news website or .gov or whatever etc..

edit: The Sky News twitter account is verified.

 

[Cdd89]

https://twitter.com/du_nbar/status/1348759524656738304?s=20

Why Friday?? Do it now for **** sake!

(And others like it). This is the intelligence level of some of the people the government is pandering to. And the funniest thing is they hate the government and would never dream of voting for them.

 

[Gadget88]

How do people see this panning out in the summer? I imagine it would be a big logistical challenge to test millions of people to go a summer holiday? Will it be replaced by tests you can do yourself perhaps/no testing ect? It looks like Europe is behind UK with vaccines so I fully expect a test being required to go abroad?

 

[Cdd89]

How do people see this panning out in the summer?

I expect we’ll stop banging rocks together and have airport rapid testing and/or vaccine passports by then.

 

[Gadget88]

I expect we’ll stop banging rocks together and have airport rapid testing and/or vaccine passports by then.

What about boats and trains they don’t have the infrastructure to mass test. Surely some sort of rapid saliva testing would save time and could be done yourself on arrival?

 

[Bikeman78]

How do people see this panning out in the summer? I imagine it would be a big logistical challenge to test millions of people to go a summer holiday? Will it be replaced by tests you can do yourself perhaps/no testing ect? It looks like Europe is behind UK with vaccines so I fully expect a test being required to go abroad?

I can see UK holidays being very popular if there are still restrictions on going abroad. Hopefully the full rail sevice to seaside resorts will be restored by then. The overcrowding was bad enough last summer.

 

[island]

https://twitter.com/du_nbar/status/1348759524656738304?s=20

(And others like it). This is the intelligence level of some of the people the government is pandering to. And the funniest thing is they hate the government and would never dream of voting for them.

Possibly stating the obvious, but the turnaround on a PCR test is a day or two, so putting it in right away would be rather challenging.

 

[Trackman]

Possibly stating the obvious, but the turnaround on a PCR test is a day or two, so putting it in right away would be rather challenging.

I've been on to the bank as BA have charged me twice (one is pending) but that is now sorted I hope.
I had a chat with the friendly lady and told her the story and mentioned about the PCR tests coming in, she mentioned a lot people are disputing transactions as they did not receive the test results in time as advertised (I assume they are flying abroad) - so beware. She also mentioned someone had to stump up £4k for another flight because of this. So if you are planning a flight in or out, be on your guard. I doubt you'd be able to get insurance for this sort of thing.

Also guess what, the 'cancelled' flight last night actually went ahead. Must have been a fresh air 'positioning move' more than anything. Been on to BA, I should still receive a full cash refund (no vouchers!), if something goes wrong -which it will- I'll start a new thread. Not holding my breath on this one. It's a good job my oven is electric and not gas!

 

[RomeoCharlie71]

The introduction of this policy has now been pushed back to 4am Monday 18 January.

 

[Mugby]

The introduction of this policy has now been pushed back to 4am Monday 18 January.

Yes, a friend of mine has been holidaying in Cuba with Tui, due to return at the weekend so they all had their tests - and paid £18 for them, only to find out that they weren't necessary after all!

 

[Yew]

The introduction of this policy has now been pushed back to 4am Monday 18 January.

Is that because things aren't ready, or have they realised that it will make barely any difference?

 

[island]

Probably delays in drafting the overly complicated regulations

 

[kristiang85]

Possibly stating the obvious, but the turnaround on a PCR test is a day or two, so putting it in right away would be rather challenging.

Well, in the UK it is - as I said earlier in this thread, the PCRs at Turkish airports take 2hrs (costing £25). I have no idea why us British are so inept at setting this up.

The introduction of this policy has now been pushed back to 4am Monday 18 January.

Yep, more confirmation the government is inept.

I've been on to the bank as BA have charged me twice (one is pending) but that is now sorted I hope.
I had a chat with the friendly lady and told her the story and mentioned about the PCR tests coming in, she mentioned a lot people are disputing transactions as they did not receive the test results in time as advertised (I assume they are flying abroad) - so beware. She also mentioned someone had to stump up £4k for another flight because of this. So if you are planning a flight in or out, be on your guard. I doubt you'd be able to get insurance for this sort of thing.

When I went to Sudan in November, a guy on my trip had paid £240 for a fast-track 24hr PCR. They failed to even get that done on time. But he was immediately refunded when he rang, and he got the £25 one at Istanbul instead.

 

[Mag_seven]

Who is going to risk going abroad now? If you test positive I assume that means the UK won't let you back in (till such times as you test negative)?

 

[Watershed]

Who is going to risk going abroad now? If you test positive I assume that means the UK won't let you back in (till such times as you test negative)?

Airlines are (supposedly) going to be instructed to refuse you boarding. If you do manage to arrive you would risk a £500 FPN or prosecution, but if a British citizen you couldn't be denied entry at the border.

In practice, if you test positive the intention is that you self isolate before returning.

 

[Trackman]

What is stop me setting up a PCR testing company in some remote country, charging people and just sending out certificates? How could the airlines check in some dodgy unregulated county?

Who is going to risk going abroad now? If you test positive I assume that means the UK won't let you back in (till such times as you test negative)?

Not me for certain. Things are changing all the time.

ps:News alert: Starmer calls for delay in pre-flight tests as it is a 'complete mess'

edit:

What is stop me setting up a PCR testing company in some remote country, charging people and just sending out certificates? How could the airlines check in some dodgy unregulated county?

Found out you need Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) registration or ISO 15189 certification for most countries.

Anyway, it all started yesterday at 4am.

 

[Trackman]

The person who I was helping finally flew home last week.
The crazy thing was BA put on 3 flights at the last minute, the first two were empty as no-one could get a PCR test done in time!
The final one was very busy as everyone had the test done by then.

 

[island]

Under the current regulations, any test is valid to enter the UK as long as it meets certain targets for false positive and false negative rates (under 20% and 3% from memory).