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Covid restrictions abroad: updates & observations

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adc82140

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Ireland is now insisting on negative tests for everyone before entry, including from the UK. PCR for the unvaccinated, supervised in person lateral flow for the vaccinated.

So the unvaccinated can do a PCR test at home, but the vaccinated have to try and find a private test centre. They haven't really thought this through.
 
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danm14

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Ireland is now insisting on negative tests for everyone before entry, including from the UK.
Two days after the Minister of Health thanked the UK for excluding Ireland from the requirement to be tested, and for respecting the Common Travel Area.

PCR for the unvaccinated, supervised in person lateral flow for the vaccinated. So the unvaccinated can do a PCR test at home, but the vaccinated have to try and find a private test centre. They haven't really thought this through.
The vaccinated can choose between a PCR test or an antigen test.
 

Butts

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Two days after the Minister of Health thanked the UK for excluding Ireland from the requirement to be tested, and for respecting the Common Travel Area.


The vaccinated can choose between a PCR test or an antigen test.

If you'll forgive the pun - The Irish are "taking the mick" here we should reciprocate their entry requirements forthwith.
 

adc82140

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To update myself, the testing regime doesn't apply for entry from Northern Ireland. Belfast Airport and the Enterprise service will be busy.
 

danm14

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To update myself, the testing regime doesn't apply for entry from Northern Ireland. Belfast Airport and the Enterprise service will be busy.
As has been the case since restrictions were first introduced, it doesn't apply to entry from Northern Ireland, but it does apply to entry through Northern Ireland.

It is illegal to enter from Northern Ireland without following the restrictions if you have been off the island of Ireland in the past fourteen days.

In practical terms, this is unenforceable unless you are an idiot.
 

Butts

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As has been the case since restrictions were first introduced, it doesn't apply to entry from Northern Ireland, but it does apply to entry through Northern Ireland.

It is illegal to enter from Northern Ireland without following the restrictions if you have been off the island of Ireland in the past fourteen days.

In practical terms, this is unenforceable unless you are an idiot.

If that's true what's the point of it ?
 

Jamiescott1

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Canada have introduced new restrictions for inbound flights (except those arriving from USA) for those who are double vaxed. PCR test on arrival and quarantine until negative test results.
This is in addition to pcr at least 72 hours before departing
 
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Mike395

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Speculation this morning that the USA are also tightening up travel testing later this week - pre departure test 24 hours beforehand (currently 72 hours) and a test on day 5 after arrival.
 

Cdd89

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pre departure test 24 hours beforehand (currently 72 hours)
1 day beforehand and 3 days beforehand; not hours. Big difference!

There seem to be rumours galore. A 7 day quarantine, as rumoured, would kill US tourism.
 

Butts

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A refreshing change prior to travelling to Albania on Friday, no continuous demands from BA for more and more information.

No PLF no pack drill required for those Tirana bound.
 

danm14

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If that's true what's the point of it ?
There's absolutely no point in it, other than to be seen not to be giving the UK "special treatment".

The Republic of Ireland has consistently treated Northern Ireland as if it were part of the Republic for the purposes of travel restrictions. The border has remained open throughout, and it has never been illegal to cross it (except insofar as it was restricted in the past by domestic restrictions on non-essential travel). There is no way restrictions on cross-border travel could have been implemented due to the nature of the border, even had there been a desire to implement them.

The Republic of Ireland, however, has consistently treated Great Britain like any other non-EU country for the purposes of travel restrictions. They have never made any exception to this - for example from July to November they required unvaccinated arrivals from GB to quarantine for fourteen days just like those from any other non-EU country, while unvaccinated arrivals from the EU were not required to quarantine.

It is illegal to enter the Republic of Ireland from Great Britain via Northern Ireland without following the travel restrictions, and there are eye-watering penalties for doing so. In practice, as there is unrestricted travel between Northern Ireland and Great Britain and an open border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland it is almost impossible to enforce. Unless you are stupid enough to complete the Passenger Locator Form or dob yourself into the Gardaí, it is undetectable - as nobody can prove you haven't been in Northern Ireland for fourteen days.
 

Butts

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There's absolutely no point in it, other than to be seen not to be giving the UK "special treatment".

The Republic of Ireland has consistently treated Northern Ireland as if it were part of the Republic for the purposes of travel restrictions. The border has remained open throughout, and it has never been illegal to cross it (except insofar as it was restricted in the past by domestic restrictions on non-essential travel). There is no way restrictions on cross-border travel could have been implemented due to the nature of the border, even had there been a desire to implement them.

The Republic of Ireland, however, has consistently treated Great Britain like any other non-EU country for the purposes of travel restrictions. They have never made any exception to this - for example from July to November they required unvaccinated arrivals from GB to quarantine for fourteen days just like those from any other non-EU country, while unvaccinated arrivals from the EU were not required to quarantine.

It is illegal to enter the Republic of Ireland from Great Britain via Northern Ireland without following the travel restrictions, and there are eye-watering penalties for doing so. In practice, as there is unrestricted travel between Northern Ireland and Great Britain and an open border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland it is almost impossible to enforce. Unless you are stupid enough to complete the Passenger Locator Form or dob yourself into the Gardaí, it is undetectable - as nobody can prove you haven't been in Northern Ireland for fourteen days.

Has anyone pointed this out to them, and if so what was their response ?
 

AlterEgo

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There's absolutely no point in it, other than to be seen not to be giving the UK "special treatment".

The Republic of Ireland has consistently treated Northern Ireland as if it were part of the Republic for the purposes of travel restrictions. The border has remained open throughout, and it has never been illegal to cross it (except insofar as it was restricted in the past by domestic restrictions on non-essential travel). There is no way restrictions on cross-border travel could have been implemented due to the nature of the border, even had there been a desire to implement them.

The Republic of Ireland, however, has consistently treated Great Britain like any other non-EU country for the purposes of travel restrictions. They have never made any exception to this - for example from July to November they required unvaccinated arrivals from GB to quarantine for fourteen days just like those from any other non-EU country, while unvaccinated arrivals from the EU were not required to quarantine.

It is illegal to enter the Republic of Ireland from Great Britain via Northern Ireland without following the travel restrictions, and there are eye-watering penalties for doing so. In practice, as there is unrestricted travel between Northern Ireland and Great Britain and an open border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland it is almost impossible to enforce. Unless you are stupid enough to complete the Passenger Locator Form or dob yourself into the Gardaí, it is undetectable - as nobody can prove you haven't been in Northern Ireland for fourteen days.
This is it in a nutshell. Northern Ireland has been a Magic Entrance since the first days of the pandemic, which is frankly hilarious.
 

adc82140

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This is it in a nutshell. Northern Ireland has been a Magic Entrance since the first days of the pandemic, which is frankly hilarious.
Any attempt to put any sort of border between NI and the Republic of Ireland would risk re igniting the Troubles. They know that, and will be well aware of the back door this creates. But it'll have been filed under "too difficult"
 

kristiang85

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Some travel updates. Looks like getting out of here for the winter is going to be a pain, though I suspect falls in flight prices might well mitigate the costs of testing as I bet a lot of people are cancelling.

From today, Spain has banned all non-vaccinated Britons from entering the country; previously they could visit by showing evidence of a negative PCR test. Fernando Grande-Marlasca, Minister of the Interior of Spain, cited “the presence of new forms of the […] disease” for its new increased state of caution.

Meanwhile, from Saturday onwards, all UK holidaymakers arriving in France must show proof of a negative antigen (lateral flow) or PCR test, regardless of their vaccination status.

Portugal, too, now mandates a pre-travel PCR or antigen test for all UK arrivals, with a €300-800 fine for those who fail to comply.

From next week, restrictions at the US border will also tighten as the first case of the new variant is detected. President Joe Biden is due to announce today that all travellers, regardless of nationality or vaccination status, will need to provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test within one day of boarding their flights.

(Telegraph)
 

SouthEastBuses

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Some travel updates. Looks like getting out of here for the winter is going to be a pain, though I suspect falls in flight prices might well mitigate the costs of testing as I bet a lot of people are cancelling.



(Telegraph)

At least no restrictions for travel to Italy. For now.
 

SouthEastBuses

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Italy have required a pre-arrival test for a while now for UK arrivals - France/Portugal are just falling in line with them.

Yeah I know, what I mean is that at least Italy hasn't bought extra restrictions for UK arrivals as a result of the Omicron varient.
 

adc82140

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Will an NHS lateral flow result do for getting in to France, or does it have to be one of those overpriced travel ones?
 

Watershed

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Will an NHS lateral flow result do for getting in to France, or does it have to be one of those overpriced travel ones?
No, the result isn't presentend in a manner they'll accept unfortunately.

It's a complete ripoff and exposes this as the charade it is.
 

Butts

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Here's an interesting query that may be of relevance to people returning to the UK in the next few weeks.

I am going to Albania Tomorrow and coming back on Sunday Night.

I've had to upgrade my Chronomics Lateral Flow Test to a PCR one due to the change of entry requirements for returning to the UK.

From what I can see it looks like they are going to send both tests out (the upgrade price was less than ordering a new PCR one )

Is the PLF Form smart enough to reject the code for the LF one, and if so how will the system react to my utilising that number ?

Barring manual intervention what would be likely to happen if I took neither tests on return ?
 

Cdd89

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The useless i newspaper is running an “exclusive” story about how people are reusing booking references on PLFs:


Instead of taking a new PCR test to determine whether they are infected with Covid-19, some travellers are “gaming the system” by re-entering old booking reference codes on their passenger locator forms from when they previously tested negative each time they enter the UK, allowing them to avoid quarantine – and potentially spread the disease.

Some people are not only re-entering their old codes when they wish to travel again, but are also sharing them with family members and friends to allow them to circumvent the testing process too.

This should have been obvious to anyone with a brain, since there are many legitimate reasons for a booking reference code to be used more than once. Some providers issue the same code for orders of multiple kits, or travellers may legitimately reuse a code if they didn’t travel on the first one. The form cannot simply reject a reused booking reference.

It would also be an incredibly stupid thing to do, given that it is an easily detectable fraud.

However I wouldn’t be surprised if, now this has been cooked up into a story, it results in some changes.
 

Bantamzen

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No, the result isn't presentend in a manner they'll accept unfortunately.

It's a complete ripoff and exposes this as the charade it is.
I'll see your charade and raise it with this. In September when my wife and I returned from Spain, it took 5 days for the Day 2 PCR results to come back to us (it was advertised as a maximum of 48 hours). So obviously I fired off a complaint, only for them to respond that because of Covid delays were happening...... o_O
 

Butts

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Come to Albania I'm loving it already !!

At Passport Control and my Hotel no one asked to see my Vaccination Status or anything else other than my Passport - No stamp in Passport though :(

Mask wearing out with the Airport patchy to say the least , I quickly discarded mine after being in the Hotel a few minutes.
 

island

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I'll see your charade and raise it with this. In September when my wife and I returned from Spain, it took 5 days for the Day 2 PCR results to come back to us (it was advertised as a maximum of 48 hours). So obviously I fired off a complaint, only for them to respond that because of Covid delays were happening...... o_O
That would be a considerable disadvantage nowadays when one must self-isolate until such time as the negative PCR result comes in.
 

brad465

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Pre-departure tests are back (sigh):


Travellers heading to the UK will now have to have a Covid test before their departure in effort to limit spread of the virus, government has announced.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the tightened requirements would come into force from 04:00 on Tuesday.

Travellers will be required to submit evidence of a negative lateral flow or PCR test to enter.

Currently people only need to self-isolate until they test negative within two days of arriving.

Nigeria will also be added from Monday to the red list of countries from where people arriving must quarantine in a hotel for 10 days, Mr Javid also confirmed.

The moves come after pressure on the government to tighten the policy had been growing over the course of the week.
 

adc82140

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The pre arrival lateral flow tests are back


All international arrivals to the UK will again be required to take pre-departure COVID-19 tests to tackle the spread of the new Omicron variant, the health secretary has announced.

The rule applies to all travellers visiting the UK or returning from a holiday, regardless of vaccination status, and will come into force from 4am on Tuesday 7 December.


Tests must be taken a maximum of 48 hours before the departure time.
I wonder what support they'll give to the travel sector. I know. None.

It's about time they allowed the use of NHS tests that they are giving out like smarties for use at home.

So to go abroad to most countries now, you have to shell out for a pre departure LFT, a return LFT and a day 2 PCR. Randox must be laughing.
 

Mag_seven

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So much for them reviewing the rules they announced last week in three weeks time. Only one week later they make them stricter :(
 
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