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, £160, but same package sold directly bu Source Bioscience is just £120. 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 £18.99. 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]
May 28, 2020, 3:38 pm
#661
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 2,553
There are equivalent enquiry emails for the FCO and home office as well that can be used.
May 28, 2020, 4:14 pm
#662
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: London, Sth Africa or LAS
Programs: VS Silver, BA Blue - finally; but hotels.com Gold :)
Posts: 1,858
Tory chairman of the transport select committee Huw Merriman asked: "Many people have commented that a sensible regime would look at the countries and their R rate and if it's below ours, then there should be no need for quarantine.
"Whilst that may not be possible for June 8, will that be possible for the next three week period which is June 29, to allow those buying cheaper flights for their summer holidays, which have gone on sale today, to be removed from the threat of quarantine?"
Mr Johnson replied: "Yes, absolutely - we want to make sure we use the three-week reviews to be sensible - we want to drive the R down as fast as we can in this country and to have as sensible a quarantine scheme as possible and to keep flows as generous as we can.
"Whilst that may not be possible for June 8, will that be possible for the next three week period which is June 29, to allow those buying cheaper flights for their summer holidays, which have gone on sale today, to be removed from the threat of quarantine?"
Mr Johnson replied: "Yes, absolutely - we want to make sure we use the three-week reviews to be sensible - we want to drive the R down as fast as we can in this country and to have as sensible a quarantine scheme as possible and to keep flows as generous as we can.
The R rate published by anywhere, including RKI in Germany, is a crude out-of-date estimate. Just work out and track the "R" in your local UK authority area to observe what a crude tool it is, especially as infection levels drop below 0.25%. R is useful in the right circumstances but it is not the best tool to manage imported infection risk, far from it.
In fact, a very sensible regime, would manage, as opposed to minimise, Covid-19 imports and Covid-19 in-country transmissions. For various reasons NIL is probably not the all-round best solution
May 28, 2020, 4:22 pm
#663
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: LHR/ATH
Programs: Amex Platinum, LH SEN (Gold), BA Bronze
Posts: 4,489
It is definitely a good idea to write to your MP about the proposals, ideally a short email with your own words and not following a template. A personal side or motivation often attracts attention. By convention, MPs are not supposed to liaise with people who live in a different constituency to the one they represent. The logic being that if you want to contact a minister about something then you ask your MP to intercede on your behalf. So there ism't any point in writing to Ms. Patel unless you live in Witham. The two exceptions are HM the Queen, though that is unlikely to get you very far unless you have very particular hardship from the measure, and the Prime Minister. The PM won't read your letter but it's including in a summary / aggregate form in a daily digest that gets handed to him mid morning.
May 28, 2020, 11:14 pm
#664
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 1,754
(1) suppress the virus - i.e. continually reduce the R keeping it below zero, using track and trace, travel restrictions etc until it is no longer prevalent in UK.
or (2) flatten the curve, allowing it to go through the population using social distancing through to November 2021 to manage hospital capacity.
She said that option (1) was very hard/unlikely. Unspoken was that option (2) was the backup plan. However it is noticeable that at the start the UK was setting itself up for option (2) (the flu plandemic plan), now they are implementing the requirements for option (1) - e.g. testing, contact tracing, and this quarantine.
May 28, 2020, 11:18 pm
#665
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 1,754
(1) suppress the virus - i.e. continually reduce the R keeping it below zero, using track and trace, travel restrictions etc until it is no longer prevalent in UK.
or (2) flatten the curve, allowing it to go through the population using social distancing through to November 2021 to manage hospital capacity.
She said that option (1) was very hard/unlikely. Unspoken was that option (2) was the backup plan. However it is noticeable that at the start the UK was setting itself up for option (2) (the flu pandemic plan), now they are implementing the requirements for option (1) - e.g. testing, contact tracing, and this quarantine.
As of yesterday, the ONS estimate 6.78% of UK population have had COVID-19 so there is still a very long way to go if managing transmission is the goal.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulat...ilot/28may2020
May 29, 2020, 6:10 am
#666
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: LHR/ATH
Programs: Amex Platinum, LH SEN (Gold), BA Bronze
Posts: 4,489
Dailymail reporting again on MP's pushing for it to be drastically revised end of June.
"Government's two-week quarantine for arrivals in UK could be 'knocked on the head' just THREE WEEKS after it comes into force on June 8 after huge revolt from Tory MPs and ministers"
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art....html#comments
"Government's two-week quarantine for arrivals in UK could be 'knocked on the head' just THREE WEEKS after it comes into force on June 8 after huge revolt from Tory MPs and ministers"
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art....html#comments
Last edited by NewbieRunner; May 29, 2020 at 6:28 am Reason: Font size
May 29, 2020, 6:14 am
#667
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,345
Good, let's hope sufficient notice is given not at the death on 28th June, so July flights don't get cancelled en masse too soon as BA won't reinstate them will they?
May 29, 2020, 6:24 am
#668
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: LHR/ATH
Programs: Amex Platinum, LH SEN (Gold), BA Bronze
Posts: 4,489
I am worried they will announce the three week review as late as possible to stop people flying on the day it is released, or even flying out before and timing their arrival on the day it is released, which is actually what I was thinking of doing ; e.g. fly out June 15 as my destination will allow me to go there without quarantine after that date , fly back when it is released , like June 25.
BA would simply act according to demand, if no one is flying why have a flight! (assuming they are not banned from flying to the country in the first place)
May 29, 2020, 11:57 am
#669
Ambassador: Emirates Airlines
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Manchester, UK
Posts: 18,618
Notice the spike in deaths across the UK over the last couple of days. Probably from VE day celebrations. I fear we're opening up way too early.
May 29, 2020, 12:07 pm
#670
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Kazakhstan
Programs: BA Gold, AirAstana Silver (much use as chocolate teapot)
Posts: 867
May 29, 2020, 12:27 pm
#671
Senior Moderator, Moderator: Community Buzz and Ambassador: Miles & More (Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, and other partners)
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: 150km from MAN
Programs: LH SEN** HH Diamond
Posts: 29,516
May 29, 2020, 12:41 pm
#672
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Kazakhstan
Programs: BA Gold, AirAstana Silver (much use as chocolate teapot)
Posts: 867
Anyway, were these guys socially distancing in Essex?
https://twitter.com/NoContextHearn/s...702019584?s=09
https://twitter.com/NoContextHearn/s...702019584?s=09
May 29, 2020, 1:10 pm
#673
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: 63,830
"Today's" (actually yesterday's) 7 Day Rolling Average is 253 deaths in all settings (rounded), whereas a week ago it was 349 deaths a day. Internal forecasts suggest it will be around 100 fatalities a day on 16 or 17 June. There was a small uptick 2 days ago, though (254-256-253).
May 29, 2020, 3:55 pm
#674
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: LHR/ATH
Programs: Amex Platinum, LH SEN (Gold), BA Bronze
Posts: 4,489
Things look pretty normal to me in Hyde Park. Funnily enough I had a chat with a few people here and all were in agreement that the travel quarantine was ridiculous and that they should remove it end of June. A lot of 'why should we be scared of other countries when they have less cases than us' was raised. The Police obviously are aware of the below but do not act against it, so if this is how it would be enforced, doesn't look like the quarantine will be either, but being fined 1000 GBP will scare people into compliance.
May 29, 2020, 4:07 pm
#675
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: LHR/ATH
Programs: Amex Platinum, LH SEN (Gold), BA Bronze
Posts: 4,489
Is this for real? I know it's dailymail, but there are some serious allegations about quarantine being a joke here. Front page headline of dailymail.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...forceable.html
Quarantine chaos: Border officials complain plan to isolate travelers to UK is 'unenforceable', the public will be 'trusted' to follow rules and 'absurd loopholes' include electronic passport holders being waived straight through
"A former senior minister said: ‘There has been abject chaos in Whitehall over this. It’s been driven by the Home Office but the Department for Transport are clearly against it. They are going out of their minds. Everything is being arranged at short notice and they’re making it up as they go along. It’s utter carnage, a complete pantomime. To my mind, it is simply unworkable.’"
The online form, in which travellers will have to say where they will quarantine and supply a phone number, will not be linked to passports or a database, forcing guards to manually check it has been completed.
A Border Force source said there was concern among staff about how they will be expected to deal with travellers who refuse to complete the so-called ‘contact locator’ form. ‘Frontline immigration officials have never been required to issue on-the-spot fines in this way before,’ he said. ‘It’s a completely new way of doing things and no-one knows how it’s going to work.’
Once through the borders, arrivals will be told to expect check calls on a ‘regular’ basis.
Private agency staff will carry out telephone interviews with travellers. They will work from a script in a bid to gauge the honesty of each person they interview, the Mail understands. The system will rely heavily on the public complying with the rules voluntarily – as they did during the ‘stay at home’ phase of the Covid-19 emergency measures, sources said. The Home Office said there were no plans to use technology which could help pinpoint whether travellers were self-isolating at the address they provided.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...forceable.html
Quarantine chaos: Border officials complain plan to isolate travelers to UK is 'unenforceable', the public will be 'trusted' to follow rules and 'absurd loopholes' include electronic passport holders being waived straight through
"A former senior minister said: ‘There has been abject chaos in Whitehall over this. It’s been driven by the Home Office but the Department for Transport are clearly against it. They are going out of their minds. Everything is being arranged at short notice and they’re making it up as they go along. It’s utter carnage, a complete pantomime. To my mind, it is simply unworkable.’"
The online form, in which travellers will have to say where they will quarantine and supply a phone number, will not be linked to passports or a database, forcing guards to manually check it has been completed.
A Border Force source said there was concern among staff about how they will be expected to deal with travellers who refuse to complete the so-called ‘contact locator’ form. ‘Frontline immigration officials have never been required to issue on-the-spot fines in this way before,’ he said. ‘It’s a completely new way of doing things and no-one knows how it’s going to work.’
Once through the borders, arrivals will be told to expect check calls on a ‘regular’ basis.
Private agency staff will carry out telephone interviews with travellers. They will work from a script in a bid to gauge the honesty of each person they interview, the Mail understands. The system will rely heavily on the public complying with the rules voluntarily – as they did during the ‘stay at home’ phase of the Covid-19 emergency measures, sources said. The Home Office said there were no plans to use technology which could help pinpoint whether travellers were self-isolating at the address they provided.
Last edited by NewbieRunner; May 29, 2020 at 5:39 pm Reason: Font size