Jun 4, 2020, 5:57 am
Last edit by: NewbieRunner
Mod note on thread engagement:
A reminder that this thread is about the self-isolation requirements for UK arrivals.
It is a help/Information resource for those travelling or returning to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland from outside the UK. Let's concentrate on news, questions and answers that are relevant and on-topic and stay away from speculations about the spread of the virus, the performance of politicians and other topics which are more suitable for OMNI.
Please stay within these requirements to avoid issues.
A reminder that this thread is about the self-isolation requirements for UK arrivals.
It is a help/Information resource for those travelling or returning to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland from outside the UK. Let's concentrate on news, questions and answers that are relevant and on-topic and stay away from speculations about the spread of the virus, the performance of politicians and other topics which are more suitable for OMNI.
Please stay within these requirements to avoid issues.
LATEST UPDATES
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-t...virus-covid-19
18 March travel to the UK changes
If you will arrive in the UK from abroad after 4am, Friday 18 March, you do not need to:
- take any COVID-19 tests – before you travel or after you arrive
- fill in a UK passenger locator form before you travel
This will apply whether you are vaccinated or not.
You also will not need to quarantine when you arrive, in line with current rules.
Other countries still have COVID-19 entry rules in place. You should check travel advice before you travel.
If you will arrive in England before 4am, 18 March, you must follow the current rules as set out in this guidance.
*****
The following historical information is retained for the time being.
The Passenger Locator Form for passengers arriving into the UK can be found here:
https://visas-immigration.service.go...r-locator-form
This can only be completed once you are within 48 hours of arrival in the UK.
Exemption list from quarantine requirements - specific details:
https://www.gov.uk/government/public...k-border-rules
England
Statutory instrument for individual passengers arriving in to England: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2021/582/contents (this html version is updated, but may not have the very latest updates for Statutory Instruments released in the last few days)
Test to release for England only from 15 December, see post 4776 https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/32841066-post4776.html
Statutory instrument for transport providers http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2.../contents/made
Scotland
Statutory instrument for individual passengers arriving in to Scotland: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2020/169/contents (this html version is updated)
Wales
Statutory instrument for individual passengers arriving in to Wales: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2020/574/contents (this html version is updated) &
Welsh language version: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2...0200574_we.pdf
Northern Ireland
Statutory instrument https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2021/99/contents (this html version is updated)
PRACTICAL GUIDANCE FOR QUICK RELEASE FROM SELF-ISOLATION (based on November 28th updates)
[This section has been moved lower down in the wiki post following the change in self-isolation rule on 7th January 2022[
Any PCR test noted as a UK Government Day 2 test will be accepted for release from self isolation as soon as you get the negative result. If it is any other PCR test (eg "Fit to Fly") and not advertised specifically as a Day 2 test then it won't be valid.
This means that you can:[list]
- Book a suitable Day 2 PCR test before you travel and use the booking reference for the test on the PLF (Passenger Locator Form).
- On your day of arrival go to your scheduled test.
- Proceed to you place of self-isolation and await the result, which will hopefully be same / next day.
Alternatively:- Book any Day 2 PCR test before you travel even if you do not intend to use this test, and use the booking reference for the test on the PLF to ensure entry to the UK.
- Note that you are not strictly required to have a PCR booking before arrival, but your carrier might not know that so you run the risk of being denied boarding
- On your day of arrival (or before end of Day 2) go to a walk-in test centre and take a different test to the one you booked.
- Proceed to you place of self-isolation and await the result, which will hopefully be same / next day.
If you are leaving the UK before the end of day 2 then you do not need to take a test, but are required to self-isolate for the duration of your trip (since you do not have a negative result). Also, if you are self-isolating while waiting for a result (and hence have not been informed of a positive result and need to isolate) you may travel to leave the country.
If you take a test and it is positive for any variant of COVID you will be required to isolate for 10 days from the date of the test.
Whether you take a test or not you may be contacted by the UK Test and Trace system at any time if it becomes apparent that you have been in contact with another case. This is very unlikely to happen before day 3 if it is in relation to your flight to UK. Depending on the suspected / identified variant for that case and if you are fully-vaccinated by an accepted programme (see below for links to what this means and valid exemptions) :- Omnicron or not fully-vaccinated: You will be required to isolated for 10 days, including a bar on travel to leave the country. A negative Day 2 test does not release you from this requirement.
- Other and fully vaccinated : You will not be required to isolate.
- Book any Day 2 PCR test before you travel even if you do not intend to use this test, and use the booking reference for the test on the PLF to ensure entry to the UK.
- Proceed to you place of self-isolation and await the result, which will hopefully be same / next day.
- On your day of arrival go to your scheduled test.
Test Providers for Day 2/8 tests & Day 5 Test to release
This section is for FTers to post their experience with specific providers (good or bad). Keep it brief and to the point. Please mention how the service is provided and your FT name.
DNA Workplace - Postal - Test kits arrived with me on time. Royal Mail slow for return. 5+ days for Day 2 result. #DaveS
DNA Workplace - Postal - Test kits both arrived on time, video of tests required, results by late evening Day 3 and Day 9. #TSE
ExpressTest Gatwick - Drive through - Tested early at 1000 a few times for TTR. Results came through in evening. #DaveS
NowTest - Postal - Day 2 kit arrived on time, day 8 did not. Will update with result arrival times when applicable. #wilsnunn
Collinson - Postal - Day 5 Test to Release kit arrived in time. Results and release by end of day 6. #tjcxx
CTM - Postal - Days 2/8 kits arrived together in time. Both sent results 2 days after posting. #tjcxx
Qured (Oncologica) - Postal -Day 2/8 kits arrived late. Results 3+ days from posting. #Gagravarr
Qured (Oncologica) - Postal - Day 2/8 kits arrived on time. Day 2 result on Day 5 and Day 8 result on Day 10 - happy customer! #EddLegll
Qured (Ocnologica) - Postal - Day 2/8 kits arrived on time. Day 2 result on Day 5 (after bedtime; ironically after my TTR result). #KSVVZ2015
Anglia DNA - Postal - Day 2/8 kits arrived early. (Both were labelled Day2). Results on Day 4 and Day 9. Cheapest on the list at the time, and good service/result. #tjcxx
Qured - Pre-flight test booked and bought through BA. Very efficient service. Highly recommended. #lhrsfo
Randox - Days 2 and 8. Booked two days before return, using BA discount. Kits already arrived on return. Slightly confusing instructions but manageable. Used Randox dropbox and results next day. Good. #lhrsfo
Randox - Day 2 (also used as pre departure test for a London to Milan flight). Used a drop box and results arrived at midnight the next day. #11101
Randox - Day 2 test centre - 2h30 queues outside the test centre in Waterloo. Results of antigen arrived 45 minutes later. #11101
Collinson - Test to Release at LHR T2. Good trip out! Very efficient service and well organised. Used BA discount. Results by end of day. Excellent. #lhrsfo
DAM - Test to Release in Fulham (they have many locations) - the cheapest fast turnaround TTR we have found. They promise 24 hours but in reality me, my wife, and my son (on different days) have received results inside of 12 hours. Very efficient staff as well. Princes outside of Central London as low as 99 GBP. Fulham is 129 GBP. #KSVVZ2015
Boots/Source Bioscience - days 2&8. Both packs sent in the same mail, waiting at the isolation address. Dropped off at postbox at 4pm, result back next day between 4 and 5 pm, very effective. Bought from Boots, Ł160, but same package sold directly bu Source Bioscience is just Ł120. Aaargh! Instructions said nasal and throat swabs, did only nasal and marked accordingly, no issues. #WilcoRoger
Collinsons/Stansted walkin TTR - test taken 1:30 pm, email with results 10:10 pm same day If the BA20OFF doesn't work (didn't work for us) there's another discount on the airport's site #WilcoRoger
Ordered Day-2 kit from Chronomics a week before our return for Ł18.99. Duly dispatched day we were returning to UK, so arrived on day following return. Reasonably simple process to do test and upload -ve result picture. Not sure where +ve result would have led to... #EsherFlyer
Hale Clinic testing centre (near Oxford Circus) - While not the least expensive, appoint schedules are accurate and results returned in promised timeframe. I've used the clinic for Day 2 tests (twice) and antigen test for US (once). I would def utilize again. #ecaarch
Halo at T5 (Sofitel) - Day 2 PCR spit test. Took the test 7pm, results arrived 7am the next day. No queues but a slightly awkward process to follow.
Useful data sources:
New cases per 100k - 7 days: https://covid19.who.int/table
New tests per 1000 - 7 days: https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus-testing
Vaccination doses per 100: https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations
Sequenced samples uploaded to GISAID: https://www.gisaid.org/index.php?id=208
NHS Track & Trace data (positivity rates for arriving passengers are published every three weeks, so if you can't find the data in the current release it will be in one of the previous two) https://www.gov.uk/government/collec...weekly-reports https://assets.publishing.service.go...ut_week_50.ods
UK daily COVID data https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/?_ga...827.1594116739
Risk assessment methodology to inform international travel traffic light system
Data informing international travel traffic-light risk assessments
Testing Terminology
Notes which may assist with understanding which tests to use and with "reuse" of UK tests for other countries regulations:
- LFT: Lateral Flow Test - A rapid antigen test using nasal / throat swab typically performed by the traveler at home, hotel, etc using simple disposable device. Usually tests the "outer shell" of the nucleus (which causes the symptoms and is reasonably stable across variants) and not the "spikes" (which allow new variants to invade more easily), so gives a positive result for many variants. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-...d_antigen_test)
- PCR: Polymerase Chain Reaction - A laboratory based test which looks at the nucleus of the virus to determine which specific variant it is. After a positive LFT test ("I have some form of COVID") a PCR test ("You have the Gamma variant") allows identification and tracking of new variants to see if they are likely to become a "variant of concern". (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymerase_chain_reaction)
- NAAT: Nucleic Acid Amplification Test - A general class of laboratory based tests which includes PCR, LAMP, etc tests. (See https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019...b/naats.html)
UK arrivals - pre-departure, quarantine and post-arrival [currently no requirements]
Sep 9, 2020, 9:25 am
#3781
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 1,610
From everything I've seen there is basically no enforcement of quarantine in UK. So why do we have an almost 100 page thread about people worrying about it, and specially why are people paying through the nose to catch an earlier flight back last minute? Lots of other places around the world have similar quarantine rules but no one really follows it too closely, just a general minimal adhereance, and certainly no big deal made about it. Is that not the case in UK?
Sep 9, 2020, 9:49 am
#3782
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 2,551
From everything I've seen there is basically no enforcement of quarantine in UK. So why do we have an almost 100 page thread about people worrying about it, and specially why are people paying through the nose to catch an earlier flight back last minute? Lots of other places around the world have similar quarantine rules but no one really follows it too closely, just a general minimal adhereance, and certainly no big deal made about it. Is that not the case in UK?
Sep 9, 2020, 9:59 am
#3783
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,881
Lots of other places around the world have similar quarantine rules but no one really follows it too closely, just a general minimal adhereance...
Sep 9, 2020, 10:00 am
#3784
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,726
It's fair to say that the pressure is more on people doing the right thing, rather than dragging them off to prison. The latter approach definitely won't get us over the virus, the first approach might. But PHE's has contracted out the tracking process to a shared business organisation, who make calls to people who should be self isolating. If this gives cause for concern there is a triage system which may lead to the police investigating, details upthread. A few people have been handed penalty notices in both England and Scotland (including a Celtic footballer). The suggestion that adherence is minimal isn't that obvious, given that several hundred of thousands of travellers have been through this - it's also not showing on the weekly Incidence report, where travel is accounting for under 4% of infections, and that travel bracket includes local rather than international travel. So the evidence is simply not there.
Sep 9, 2020, 10:04 am
#3785
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,726
At the Downing Street briefing today there were a few pointers about the Passenger Location Form system
- PLFs to be made simpler
- Border Force to re-double efforts to check PLFs (and I think we call all guess what that will mean)
- Travel may form part of the mass testing progress so that people can be released early from self isolation
No detail at this stage, I would guess this is a few weeks away from having the specifics of this.
- PLFs to be made simpler
- Border Force to re-double efforts to check PLFs (and I think we call all guess what that will mean)
- Travel may form part of the mass testing progress so that people can be released early from self isolation
No detail at this stage, I would guess this is a few weeks away from having the specifics of this.
Sep 9, 2020, 10:29 am
#3786
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Plat, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 30,499
Sep 9, 2020, 10:29 am
#3787
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: London, UK and Southern France
Posts: 18,362
The suggestion that adherence is minimal isn't that obvious, given that several hundred of thousands of travellers have been through this - it's also not showing on the weekly Incidence report, where travel is accounting for under 4% of infections, and that travel bracket includes local rather than international travel. So the evidence is simply not there.
That said, I agree with the basic underlying point, though, that we should not assume, just because there is no high profile visible enforcement, that the measure does not produce its required effect in terms of people self-isolating.
Sep 9, 2020, 10:43 am
#3788
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: NW London and NW Sydney
Programs: BA Diamond, Hilton Bronze, A3 Diamond, IHG *G
Posts: 6,343
If you work in an office or factory or school, would you turn up to work and blatantly announce that you've just been to Spain and are now breaking the law? Or take unpaid leave for 2 weeks / use up another 2 weeks of annual leave?
Sep 9, 2020, 11:29 am
#3789
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,726
And what we do know of course is that the fear/concern of needing to self isolate has changed behaviour, in terms of people simply not travelling to Spain on holiday breaks on the scale that we briefly saw earlier in the summer.
Sep 9, 2020, 2:26 pm
#3791
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 963
Not sure the situation in Scotland (where they are taking this much more seriously), but my understanding is that in England, you have to basically ignore attempts to contact you via text and phone over four days to receive a police referral. Is that inaccurate?
Sep 9, 2020, 11:37 pm
#3792
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Kazakhstan
Programs: BA Gold, AirAstana Silver (much use as chocolate teapot)
Posts: 867
You would have to do something pretty stupid to get a fine.
Last edited by DorsetKnob; Sep 9, 2020 at 11:43 pm
Sep 9, 2020, 11:41 pm
#3793
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 7,212
[Redacted reference to a post deleted by mod team]
There are already concerns indeed:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54097050
There are already concerns indeed:
Coronavirus: Concerns over Boris Johnson's 'moonshot' testing plans
Scientists and health professionals have raised doubts about Prime Minister Boris Johnson's "moonshot" plan for mass coronavirus testing in the UK.
The PM hopes millions of Covid-19 tests - including some giving results within minutes - could be processed daily.
But experts say there are issues with laboratory capacity for current tests, while the technology for more rapid tests "does not, as yet, exist".
Scientists and health professionals have raised doubts about Prime Minister Boris Johnson's "moonshot" plan for mass coronavirus testing in the UK.
The PM hopes millions of Covid-19 tests - including some giving results within minutes - could be processed daily.
But experts say there are issues with laboratory capacity for current tests, while the technology for more rapid tests "does not, as yet, exist".
Last edited by NewbieRunner; Sep 10, 2020 at 12:43 am Reason: See above
Sep 10, 2020, 3:48 am
#3794
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,726
Here is the data which will influence this afternoon's review of the exemption list. Portugal is clearly vulnerable but I think Italy and Denmark are OK. Sweden appears to have met the criteria to become exempt, but that will be a hot topic. Gibraltar is down to 154 from the 200 plus figure earlier in the week. Spain continues to climb so Canaries and Balearics would not be admissable under the new criteria.
Sep 10, 2020, 4:50 am
#3795
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: SE1, London
Posts: 23,413
Also a worry as to whether the UK is blocked by more countries. Hopefully the “doing lots of testing” rationale will hold.