squawk

This happened to family members returning to the UK from Germany on two separate Lufthansa flights (different days, different UK destination airports) recently, several days after their respective flights. The only way that T&T would have got their information would have been from the PLF, as the people in question either don't have the contact tracing app for various reasons.

Luckily in both cases, both day 2 LFTs and the subsequent PCRs requested by T&T were negative. I suspect they are indeed pinging the whole plane.

DaveS

I have a friend who has been working in Cyprus. He was contacted after all four of his return flights. Luckily he is UK vaccinated, so not a huge issue. It is pretty miserable for anyone visiting the UK though.

Ldnn1

If you are double vaccinated there is no need to do anything. Just ignore it.

BLHD

Don't "Just ignore it"

Fill in the form requested by T&T & then get on with your day.

iadisgreat

This happened to us for a flight (we assume) LHR-MXP early October a few days after we returned back to the US (6 days after the flight in question). T&T called over and over until we were finally able to answer. Told them we had returned to the states and they seemed confused, but closed it out with a "follow your local guidance."

The only hassle was that we couldn't complete the online form and end it early since it would only accept a UK address, so we had to speak with someone.

Ldnn1

You can if you like, but you can equally just ignore it.

toast25

I am slated to take a 6-day trip to the UK next week from the US. Triple vaxxed, but not in the UK.
Scared that I will be contacted by T and T--latest figures from NHS are that 1% of travelers from the US tested positive on the 2-day test--and be told to isolate, even if I test negative because I wasn't vaxxed in the UK.
For those who have experienced it, can you tell me (assuming there is someone positive on the plane, and I test negative):
1) Would I be forced to miss my flight home?
2) Besides answering the phone/text--what is the likelihood that someone would come to my hotel to check on me? Send the police after me for a fine if I was not there?
3) Would the T and T folks communicate with the immigration folks, blocking my exit on day 6? Is there something in "the system" that would ping wherever I get my 72-hour test before flying home?
Bottom line: besides answering the phone from them, what are the odds that I can effectively ignore this and get on my with trip? I am only saying this working on the assumption I test negative, and of course, would be willing to undergo the same testing regime that any UK-vaxxed person has to undergo when pinged by T and T for a flight. Should I test positive, of course it would be a different story.
I am seriously considering cancelling my flight due to this--had I know about this wrinkle for people vaxxed outside the UK, I would not have booked the trip.

Blackwaya

There is a different requirement for people vaccinated outside the UK versus those vaccinated in the UK? My impression was for those fully vaccinated with a listed recognized vaccine, should a T&T notice of exposure occur, you're only required to perform a PCR test and there is no isolation needed. I too am triple-vaxxed and will be traveling to the UK (and Iceland) in two weeks.

DaveS

Unfortunately yes there is this difference if you are vaccinated outside the UK. There are two sets of legislation and only the one that covers entry to the UK was updated. This does pose a dilemma for anyone visiting the UK. I think the legislation is defective, but it is still there and there is a theoretic risk that it will be enforced.

There does appear to be a not insignificant chance that people will be contacted by T&T after a flight. Most likely this will be nearer the end of the 10 day isolation period than the beginning. I think any enforcement action beyond phone calls is very unlikely. The police have better things to do than worrying about chasing people for this. They were reluctant enough to enforce the bits of legislation that were not defective. Anyone in this situation should tell the T&T people that they are fully vaccinated. That might be good enough to make them go away. Certainly get tested, but then not isolate unless the test was positive.

There is no mechanism in place to stop people leaving the UK.

toast25

@iadisgreat Can you--or anyone else who has to fill out an "online form" explain what this means and what is in it? What did it ask you? Presumably, T and T contacted you for the first time after you returned home. But if they had contacted you while you were still in the UK, it would be hard to explain why you had left the country before the 10-day quarantine expired, right? They would then have it documented that you willfully disobeyed the law. Perhaps jumping ship before the end of the quarantine wouldn't be blocked by immigration/customs, but if this is noted somewhere, I could imagine that there could be reprecussions if you tried to enter the UK in the future, right?

:D!

How would you have left the UK if you are still in the UK?

fruitcage

If you are contacted by t&t, the online form simply asks for you to declare when and where you were vaccinated, not provide proof. Given the bizarrely inconsistent rules, I could easily imagine people might ‘accidentally’ say they were vaccinated in England and keep a clear conscience.

toast25

It would appear that the sequence of events here is as follows:
--he came to the UK
--left the UK
--then was then contacted by T and T while back at home in the US
--he had to then fill out a form online where he was asked to provide a UK address (I assume of where he was quarantining) to end the quarantine early
--had to call T and T to fill it out, since he was back in the US, and he lacked a UK address

In this situation, he could honestly say he skipped out on the quarantine because he was never made aware of it while in the UK.

In contrast, if the T and T contacts you while you are still in the UK. you can't claim ignorance at that point. And it sounds like you have to fill something out related to the quarantine--and should you decide unilaterally to end it early, this is somehow recorded. I am trying to find out the nature of this "documentation."

If the T and T order to isolate is totally toothless, why wouldn't the vast majority of people (who are forced to quarantine under these circumstances despite testing negative) just say "forget this" and leave the country with their regularly scheduled homebound flight, instead of waiting out the 10 days (assuming their trip is less than 10 days)--or completely ignore the isolation order all together?

Not trying to beat a dead horse here. It is just that pre-COVID, I came to the UK on a regular basis. I would like to preserve my ability to do so in the future.

Chowderhead8

I'm double vaxxed with Pfizer in the US. Flying JFK to LHR tomorrow, spending 9 days in the UK before returning LHR to JFK. When I booked this trip, it was my understanding that the UK deemed the US Pfizer vaccine as an accepted vaccine regimen and that I'd be exempt from any quarantines unless I test positive at some point. Why would the US vaccine not be accepted only in this T&T close contact scenario? If my day 2 test is negative, then I guess my only hope if I'm contacted by T&T is to explain I'm fully vaxxed with Pfizer, which is on the UK govt's website of accepted vaccines, and hope that I somehow squeak by? I'd hate to have to isolate my whole trip in the hotel and possibly have to delay my return home to the US if I'm testing negative and fully vaxxed. Quite nervous now!

Blackwaya

The absolutely ridiculous double standard is insulting. If this is a case of British exceptionalism, it is a particularly ugly one (and I am exceedingly confident it is exactly that.) Both my wife and I are triple Pfizer vaccinated, the third dose being administered 19 days ago, which places the two of us in the highest protection factor possible.

I am very tempted to say screw their isolation after getting a negative PCR test and force the issue. We are fully vaccinated. Political motives be damned.