If you had a positive PCR result, have fully recovered, 2 vaccines and the infection was Delta (which you can safely assume if you caught the virus in the UK) then you are highly unlikely to get Delta again, or Alpha for that matter. So you probably have an excellent - though not certain - chance of making travel arrangements for the next 90 days without worrying about another positive PCR. Some countries would regard your positive PCR as being as good as the vaccines, though that's not really the right stance. If there is a new variant beyond the existing slate then that may change things, but that's just a future possibility at this stage.

The reality is that the one thing that definitely works is lockdown, and with Delta that would involve schools and colleges as well as closing down the hospitality industry again, along with a general "stay at home" message. The lockdowns were widely followed last time, there was public consent, but would that work now? And wouldn't people query the double vaccines they had got? Anything less than that - so the pre Step 4 items that we were on last week - would at best slow down the rise slightly, but not reverse it. That reverse will happen, indeed it has happened already in Scotland and some parts of the NW and NE, partly from the measures already in place, partly because schools and colleges are now off for the summer break, partly because the chains of transmission reach the end. Remember the current numbers relate to where we were approx 2 weeks ago and back from there.

The irony is that if masks have prevented 20% of cases, then by ditching masks in the middle of a big wave of infections more people will have to spend 10 days quarantined at home.

Boris's boss wrote this at the weekend:
Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/a...stop-fear.html

However the one big thing to be happy about is that unlike in the USA these crazy conspiracy theories don't yet extend to mainstream perception about vaccines. That is really ....ed up and a recipe for increased deaths (compared to 'just' increased cases here).

I fully agree. I’m sitting on an 11 hour flight right now in a mask. I can assure you, its not pleasant. I’ve done even longer - 3 flights and an intercity training with multiple meetings in between where the non-speaker was required to wear a mask - total like 18 hours. My ears almost feel off. But life goes on with a mask. It doesn’t when you are forced to stay at home which is a huge infringement on human rights and not one, in my view is being imposed on people in a reasonable manner. Both my wife and son are supposed to be self-isolating due to COVID exposure at the moment. Neither are. My wife due to a ping which we are pretty sure occurred due to a tube ride when she was fully masked (she’s also fully vaccinated; she didn’t really understand the app despite my warnings - I have never and never will download it - and deleted it the instant she got pinged) and my son due to exposure at school (he’s one of a million apparently). We are sensible and they are testing regularly but the blunt instrument of self-isolation as applied in the UK is a violation of a fundamental human rights and is nothing like being asked to wear a mask while going about certain aspects of people’s daily business.

I have flights/hotel/onward flights booked from USA-LHR on 6-7 September. Was planning to sightsee and bought tickets to an Arsenal game. I was hoping that on July 19th things would change since we are fully vaccinated, but now I see that our vaccinations won't be recognized (recognised). What are the odds that this will change before our flight? When does the new green list come out? I imaging that the USA won't be added to the green list anyway, since there seems to be a tit-for-tat going on between the two governments. :-( I think I read something gets reevaluated on 12 Aug?

In the meantime, I've booked a flight to LHR arriving the same day I already have a flight LHR-AUH, just in case. That will be a long day of travel, but at least we'll be able to pick up our trip.

Having done a bunch of those flights during the pandemic, and with more coming up in a few days, I find that the mask isn't inconvenient or uncomfortable, and I always forget I'm wearing it. It's neither pleasant nor unpleasant for me because I don't notice the mask. Same goes in London, and I really don't mind if masks are required or not. I have good supply and they're easy to carry in my pocket if I need one.

I suppose I'm lucky because I have ordered and tried many different types of masks in the last 15 months, and have found some that are extremely comfortable. You're quite right, though, that some masks are extremely uncomfortable -- I avoid using those.

Officials come to my house to check if I was isolating from Amber list country
 

I have been isolating for a few days and have the Covid people call me on the first day and walk me through a long phone call .

Then I have had a knock on my house 2 times but haven’t answered the door . Has anyone else had the officials come to their house to check to see if they are self isolating for 10 days .

Should I open the door and speak to them or just leave it .

Ahh, Brady. The one group he never speaks for is his constituents.

The country review is roughly every 3 weeks, but it changes quite widely. The last review (which added Bulgaria and Croatia to the green list) was on or around the 15th, but then France was added in what I dubbed the new "Amber+ list" on the 19th. I'd expect the next review to be around the 2nd of August.

As to whether the US will make it to the green list... who knows. The methodology used to decide who's where is super opaque. As to whether Americans (or Europeans) will see their vaccinations recognised here... again, it's in the laps of the gods.

Bottom line = I'd go somewhere else. Especially to see the football, the Emirates stadium is quieter than a bibliotheque.

I visited Tesco early this morning down here in Kent. I was surprised to see a few people, including staff without masks. Of the few customers I saw without, quite a few were in the senior category. Tesco was asking people nicely to wear them, so I kept my own on.

Officials came to my house to check on me
 

Officials have came to my house to check to see if I was isolating , I have just came back from Amber list country and they came to check on me but I was sleeping .

should I answer the door .

If you are actually behaving and doing your quarantine as required, why would you want to give the authorities any reason to believe that you aren't home? Because you like going to court to contest fines, with random excuses for why you didn't open the door?

Yes, seems odd that you didn't answer the door. This would appear only to have downsides...

Sleeping is OK. That does not break any law. If you have complied with the rules you have nothing to worry about. They would need to have some proof that you were not self isolating to take things further. You may get another visit of course. I would put a Dear T&T note on the door saying when you will be awake :)

It was pretty hard to get 4 F seats on the same flight using miles. Another place might not be an option. That's why I booked the separate flight to LHR on what was supposed to be the end of the trip, so we can just transit through LHR to AUH. From what I've read, that should be fine? It's unclear if I will have to go through immigration, though, since it will be two separately booked flights on two different airlines that are not aligned.