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]
Oct 20, 2020, 9:29 am
#4426
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Bregenz, Austria
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Posts: 2,950
Oct 20, 2020, 10:03 am
#4427
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 963
I think that's overstating it a bit. No one is confining anyone to their home in the UK. There is a regime of self isolation that is nearly entirely unenforced. It is easy to ignore it and just remember not to answer any unknown numbers in a noisy place.
Oct 20, 2020, 2:42 pm
#4428
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: 30,535
The lack of transparency about indicators - indeed, significant inconsistencies over time - which means that we need to double guess the mind of a minister (as opposed to guessing, for instance, whether Sweden is likely to have a two weeks infection rate above 100 or not, which many of us would feel is more predictable) and the short notice of implementation (many people might find it easier to cope with the threshold for decision being a little lower but coming with a notice of a week or so rather than 48 hours) certainly weigh considerably in how problematic it can be for intuitively law abiding people to make plans.
Oct 20, 2020, 3:05 pm
#4429
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 2,553
100%. For my most recent trip, I was checking case numbers and twitter for any rumours about quarantine from my destination multiple times a day. I even booked what I called a 'burner' flight for the Friday in case a quarantine was announced on the Thursday, which I then changed to the Saturday to still give me a get out if needed. Thankfully none of it was needed and I came home this past Sunday as planned without any issues.
Oct 21, 2020, 3:42 am
#4430
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: 63,811
Here is the data for Wednesday. No data issues that I know about. Belgium is effectively 1,000, as is Czech. It's essentially bad news all round. This week's decision is going to be interesting. Essentially 100 - or about to go over it - is the decision point of late, and as you can see that will sweep in Sweden and Cyprus this week. Germany has a week more to go, depending on tomorrow's figures. So this would suggest that exemption from self isolation would fall to essentially 2 countries, Germany (for a bit) and Greece. At which point one would ask why we are bothering.
Gibraltar is now 507, interestingly they have not had a single death since the start of the pandemic, though statistically they should be running at 2 or so every 10 days. Iceland remains 311.
Oct 21, 2020, 4:19 am
#4431
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Switzerland
Programs: AY+ Platinum, SK Gold, BAEC Silver, airbaltic VIP, Radisson VIP
Posts: 6,531
Switzerland update:
New cases: 5596 (!)
Test positivity: 19.8% (!)
Incidence: 389.6/100k
Essentially it is out of control by now given the high positivity rate which we've seen for a week or so. The government announced a few measures last Sunday which, franky, are weak and, in my opinion, won't change that much. We shall see in a week or so if these measures helped or not. The federal council discussed during today's meeting further measures which are possible in the future. A limited-time lockdown (circuit breaker) is apparently on the table.
New cases: 5596 (!)
Test positivity: 19.8% (!)
Incidence: 389.6/100k
Essentially it is out of control by now given the high positivity rate which we've seen for a week or so. The government announced a few measures last Sunday which, franky, are weak and, in my opinion, won't change that much. We shall see in a week or so if these measures helped or not. The federal council discussed during today's meeting further measures which are possible in the future. A limited-time lockdown (circuit breaker) is apparently on the table.
Oct 21, 2020, 4:58 am
#4432
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: Top Tier with all 3 alliances
Posts: 11,668
Greece is very likely headed towards a moderate lockdown nationally by the end of October, curfew after midnight, masks in the streets, etc., the tourist season is effectively over.
Oct 21, 2020, 6:46 am
#4433
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 2,553
CZ is going back into full lockdown as of Thursday so things are looking grim out there.
Oct 21, 2020, 11:42 am
#4434
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,345
Is there any chance do you think of the Canary Islands being pulled out from Spain like some of the Greek Islands were? From their news they seem pleased to report :
"The Canary Islands has achieved its main epidemiological objective this week and is well below the limit of 50 cases of infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last seven days."
The actual number is 38.40, is this still too high, does it have to be close to the old number of 20?
"The Canary Islands has achieved its main epidemiological objective this week and is well below the limit of 50 cases of infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last seven days."
The actual number is 38.40, is this still too high, does it have to be close to the old number of 20?
Oct 21, 2020, 2:00 pm
#4435
Join Date: Jul 2004
Programs: DL; AA; UA; CO; LHLX; NZ; QR; EK; BA
Posts: 7,408
Switzerland update:
New cases: 5596 (!)
Test positivity: 19.8% (!)
Incidence: 389.6/100k
Essentially it is out of control by now given the high positivity rate which we've seen for a week or so. The government announced a few measures last Sunday which, franky, are weak and, in my opinion, won't change that much. We shall see in a week or so if these measures helped or not. The federal council discussed during today's meeting further measures which are possible in the future. A limited-time lockdown (circuit breaker) is apparently on the table.
New cases: 5596 (!)
Test positivity: 19.8% (!)
Incidence: 389.6/100k
Essentially it is out of control by now given the high positivity rate which we've seen for a week or so. The government announced a few measures last Sunday which, franky, are weak and, in my opinion, won't change that much. We shall see in a week or so if these measures helped or not. The federal council discussed during today's meeting further measures which are possible in the future. A limited-time lockdown (circuit breaker) is apparently on the table.
Compared to the Germans across the border, I have found many Swiss in the German speaking parts (including many of my colleagues) to be quite lackadaisical about this pandemic...
Last edited by ClipperDelta; Oct 21, 2020 at 2:07 pm
Oct 21, 2020, 3:40 pm
#4436
Join Date: Feb 2020
Programs: British Airways Executive Club Gold, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond Amb
Posts: 1,771
I’ve got a trip booked to Berlin for 8th November - anyone reckon Germany will still be exempt from the UK returning travellers quarantine by then? It’s not looking good...
Oct 21, 2020, 7:03 pm
#4437
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Hong Kong, France
Programs: FB , BA Gold
Posts: 15,557
On 20 Oct the 7-days daily average was 6,460. It was 3346 a week earlier and 2176 2 weeks earlier. With that trend, the 14-days cumulative could easily pass 200+ by 8 November..
Daily deaths are still low compared to UK but increasing rapidly.
Oct 21, 2020, 11:26 pm
#4438
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 7,237
On the opposite side, the whole of the UK is considered to be high risk for Germany. Measures are different for each Länder, as I understand it, but the likes of fransknorge and others will have more info. I've got a business trip to Berlin the week before yourse and I'm 60% betting on a cancellation.
Oct 22, 2020, 3:28 am
#4439
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: 63,811
Here are the Thursday figures, which will determine any changes to the travel corridor countries announced at the regular weekly review. A number of countries have gone over various grim milestones, notably the Czech Republic, which is the first 1,000 figure I have put into this table. Belgium is also in this category but it won't show as such until tomorrow.
I've decided to put all of Turkey's data in italics, to indicate that the figures are not consistent with the rest of the table.
Oct 22, 2020, 3:35 am
#4440
Join Date: Jun 2018
Programs: BA Gold, Delta Plat
Posts: 186
The Telegraph seems to think Sweden will survive this week, so crossing my fingers!