Covid restrictions abroad: updates & observations

[rvdborgt]

Masks in public transport in France will not be required anymore from 16 May.
See e.g.:

Le port du masque ne sera plus obligatoire dans les transports en commun dès le lundi 16 mai

Le ministre de la Santé Olivier Véran a annoncé que le port du masque ne sera plus obligatoire dans les transports en commun, et ce à partir de lundi 16 mai. D’autres mesures de freinage restent en vigueur.

www.ouest-france.fr

Health Minister Olivier Véran has announced that wearing a mask will no longer be compulsory on public transport from Monday 16 May. Other braking measures remain in force.

(Translation by DeepL, I'm lazy.)

 

[island]

Similar rule change expected in Belgium from the 20th.

 

[Watershed]

Masks in public transport in France will not be required anymore from 16 May.
See e.g.:

Le port du masque ne sera plus obligatoire dans les transports en commun dès le lundi 16 mai

Le ministre de la Santé Olivier Véran a annoncé que le port du masque ne sera plus obligatoire dans les transports en commun, et ce à partir de lundi 16 mai. D’autres mesures de freinage restent en vigueur.

www.ouest-france.fr

Better late than never! Just Germany to follow and then a mask-free journey can finally be made across most of continental Europe...

 

[nedchester]

Anyone got an inkling when the USA is going to drop entry testing ?

I’m booked to go to the USA in early July and hoping this requirement will be dropped by then (in line with the rest of the world). There is certainly pressure being put on the US Gov to drop the requirement as travel to the US is still substantially down on preCovid levels.

 

[Butts]

I’m booked to go to the USA in early July and hoping this requirement will be dropped by then (in line with the rest of the world). There is certainly pressure being put on the US Gov to drop the requirement as travel to the US is still substantially down on preCovid levels.

Late June for me, so hopefully we will both get away without any of this nonsense being required.

 

[Jimini]

Patti LuPone goes on F-word rant with maskless Broadway patron

Patti LuPone is teaching theater etiquette again. The famously foul-tempered Broadway diva, 73, was caught on camera hollering at a maskless theatergoer on Monday night, following a performance of …

nypost.com

I despair sometimes, I really do.

Patti LuPone is teaching theater etiquette again.

The famously foul-tempered Broadway diva, 73, was caught on camera hollering at a maskless theatergoer on Monday night, following a performance of her hit musical “Company.”

The explosive moment was recorded by another audience member and posted to Twitter, where it quickly went viral, racking up more than 200,000 views as of Wednesday morning before spawning a series of reposts. (Warning: The video contains profanity.)

“Put your mask over your nose, that’s why you’re in the theater,” LuPone can be heard lecturing the bare-faced patron at the beginning of the 30-second clip.

The two-time Tony winner — who battled COVID-19 back in February — subsequently blasted: “That is the rule. If you don’t want to follow the rule, get the f–k out!”

The audience was heard erupting with cheers, as LuPone continued: “Who do you think you are? That you do not respect the people that are sitting around you!”
However, the maskless woman in the audience wasn’t taking LuPone’s dressing-down lightly, yelling back: “I pay your salary!”

“Bulls–t! Chris Harper pays my salary!” the Broadway icon raged in response, referencing the name of “Company’s” producer.

Full Twitter post here:

https://twitter.com/MilesJosephson/status/1524250508533370880?

 

[yorkie]

Patti LuPone goes on F-word rant with maskless Broadway patron

Patti LuPone is teaching theater etiquette again. The famously foul-tempered Broadway diva, 73, was caught on camera hollering at a maskless theatergoer on Monday night, following a performance of …

nypost.com

I despair sometimes, I really do.



Full Twitter post here:

https://twitter.com/MilesJosephson/status/1524250508533370880?

I don't know who this LuPone person is, but they sound very disrespectful, as well as being uninformed. They probably lack intelligence.

I'd like to have an argument with them and believe me, it would be the full argument, not the 5 minute one!

Meanwhile, common sense is being applied:

Covid mask rules relaxed for EU air travel

Masks will no longer have to be worn on EU flights and in airports from next Monday, new guidance says.

www.bbc.co.uk

Face masks will no longer have to be worn on flights and in airports in EU countries from next Monday, according to new official guidance.

The move is in line with changing Covid policies on public transport across Europe, said the EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

Unfortunately the article does have some misinformation:

ECDC director Andrea Ammon said that although the wearing of masks would no longer be compulsory, it was important to remember that "together with physical distancing and good hand hygiene, it is one of the best methods of reducing transmission".

This has of course been debunked many times on this forum; it's of no surprise that the BBC quotes such misleading claims.

But once it's not compulsory, the reality is that the masses do ditch their masks, especially in countries where people are on average often a bit more sensible than they are over here.

I am travelling with Ryanair next month, and there is good news there:

Ryanair said it would drop mandatory face masks on EU flights from next Monday, in line with the new EASA guidance.

My last flight was made less pleasant than it should have been as the staff constantly pestered people to cover their faces and people had to purchase food & drink to simply be able to behave normally and avoid harassment.

The article also says:

In March, the budget airline EasyJet said where masks are no longer legally required at both ends of the route, mask wearing would be a personal choice.

However I travelled with Easyjet after that and they did demand masks on a flight where this didn't apply. However I do agree with this:

An EasyJet spokesperson said: "We welcome this guidance from EASA and the ECDC and continue to urge European governments to have a co-ordinated approach in removing mask requirements on board aircraft, to make it easy and clear for customers."

Maskivist countries such as Germany and Italy need to move with the times and accept the reality and ditch their ludicrous mask mandates.

The mask obsessives have lost the war and failed to change our society to match their dystopian vision. Normality awaits. It's such a shame this has taken so long and some countries are still dragging their feet. But we're getting there.

 

[350401]

Americans are still mask mad - with masks being required on Broadway despite end of general NYC mask mandate. American performers even feel free to berate people not wearing masks, and kick them out of the theatre without a refund - https://twitter.com/addisonclover/status/1524225602101944320?s=21 - definitely avoiding blue state USA for the foreseeable future.

Patti LuPone putting an anti-masker in their place at a talkback after the show. Just follow the ****ing rules and keep the performers safe

 

[yorkie]

The US is a basket case.

I am visiting there in August out of curiosity but there is no way I'd want to live there.

The irony is that the people accusing others of being "disrespectful" are the disrespectful ones. But they lack the intelligence and common sense to realise that.

If I had the opportunity to speak to Patti, whoeever they are, I'd be putting them well and firmly in their place!

 

[kristiang85]

Americans are still mask mad - with masks being required on Broadway despite end of general NYC mask mandate. American performers even feel free to berate people not wearing masks, and kick them out of the theatre without a refund - https://twitter.com/addisonclover/status/1524225602101944320?s=21 - definitely avoiding blue state USA for the foreseeable future.

I notice someone put this quite sensible and pertinent comment:

There’s just so much anger in the world now. I think all of us need to try to be calmer and kinder. Even if we are justified in our opinion, we need to be nicer to those we disagree with.

Only for pretty much all of the replies (mostly from the obviously self-proclaimed folks on 'kinder' left of America, if you look at their profiles, mostly full of pronouns and virtue hashtags) to be, depressingly, saying stuff like this:

Nope. Be nice about disagreements over whether or not you liked the play. There's no being nice about risking other people's lives.

Oh stuff it the kumbaya bull****. We have life or death situations to deal with.

No we don’t. We don’t need to be “nice” if someone is endangering our lives.

DON’T EVEN START. NO. We tried being nice to them. We all tried being gentle with them. All we got interim is toddler fits. It’s time we start treating them like a child and parent them because being calm and kind—we we all have done—DOES NOT WORK.

Being nice is a weakness not a virtue. Being nice means nothing. The KIND thing to do is to care about people around you and their lives but I’m sure lots of people don’t know the difference.

That’s what politicians are telling us as they strip us of basic human rights. “Whatever you do, play nice!” We must refuse to play nice until those who willfully do us harm have been stopped. That includes people content to spread disease rather than suffer minor inconvenience

Will you calmly disagree with someone who is simply pointing a gun in your face?

How can we be kind to people that are evil we will Never get anywhere walking around being Nice calm to people who p*** in our cereal everyday

Are you saying to be nicer to someone who is ACTIVELY TRYING TO MURDER PEOPLE?!?!

Some of these are frankly disturbing to be honest. Why are these people even out in public if they are genuinely this scared of COVID? And if they believe it is this deadly how can any kind of critical thinking about mitigation come to the conclusion that a soggy piece of cloth with gaps all round it is going to save them? And, with these hysterical attitudes, how will these people cope when something geniunely bad happens to them?

I would love to drag them all to the UK and see how they cower in our mostly now-maskless society. It could be good TLC trash reality series.

 

[Butts]

Americans are still mask mad - with masks being required on Broadway despite end of general NYC mask mandate. American performers even feel free to berate people not wearing masks, and kick them out of the theatre without a refund - https://twitter.com/addisonclover/status/1524225602101944320?s=21 - definitely avoiding blue state USA for the foreseeable future.

That's a vast generalisation, some parts of the USA dispensed with them (if they ever wore them) long before we did.

 

[Bantamzen]

The US is a basket case.

I am visiting there in August out of curiosity but there is no way I'd want to live there.

Just don't put on any commercial TV when in your hotel room, most channels are just pharmaceutical adverts with a bit of programming shoehorned in-between...

Seriously though, the US is actually a nice place to go. Even in New York you'll meet some very nice people, mad has hatters sometimes, but very nice nonetheless. I once got a beer bought for me by a waitress in a bar on 7th Avenue because I'd been tipping her well previously (although my ego liked to think it was for another reason ). It was actually a bit of a nice surprise when she come over with it! Just get used to being called Australian & add at least 20% to your planned budget for tips, as the saying goes there, "If they touch it, you gotta tip them". I'm hoping to get a few days in NYC again later this year, once they've calmed down a bit on masks of course...

The irony is that the people accusing others of being "disrespectful" are the disrespectful ones. But they lack the intelligence and common sense to realise that.

If I had the opportunity to speak to Patti, whoeever they are, I'd be putting them well and firmly in their place!

Indeed, there can be nothing less respectful than yelling a people as if they had just fallen straight out of a leper colony.

 

[Citybreak1]

Now France have ditched masks seems Eurostar being over cautious still requiring masks

 

[Richard Scott]

Now France have ditched masks seems Eurostar being over cautious still requiring masks

They might be but last time I went on one last month and few people wearing one and not enforced by staff.

 

[rg177]

FFP2 mask rules on public transport and in "essential" shops still persisting in Austria.

I'm passing through today as part of a Szombathely to Zagreb journey (via Graz) and wearing one in 29 degree weather with broken air conditioning on this train is horrendous. Plenty water being drank- mostly as the heat is making it as a necessity!

Thankfully the vast majority of my trip has been spent in Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and will continue in Croatia.

Suffice to say the mask will be ditched as soon as we depart Spielfeld Straß on the EuroCity to Zagreb...

*Edit* Though, having come into Graz for a couple of hours, everything feels decidedly normal other than the mask requirement in supermarkets and public transport. Vaccine passports and the like are all ditched.

Hopefully Austria isn't too far behind letting go of the remaining rules. I've always loved visiting here but unfortunately appreciating the views from the train while melting in a huge mask isn't much fun!

 

[island]

Now France have ditched masks seems Eurostar being over cautious still requiring masks

Masks are still mandatory on trains in France until the end of this week and will remain so in Belgium beyond that. I would expect Eurostar to amend its rules once the changes do happen, though.

 

[Mainline421]

The photos on Eurostar's site went back to maskless over a month ago, so I'd be surprised if they kept them after the law is dropped

 

[Freightmaster]

I would love to drag them all to the UK and see how they cower in our mostly now-maskless society. It could be good TLC trash reality series.

From the makers of 'Breaking Amish' comes the hard hitting new series... 'Going Maskless'


viewer warning: contains scenes of maskless UK citizens ACTIVELY TRYING TO MURDER PEOPLE






MARK

 

[island]

Now France have ditched masks seems Eurostar being over cautious still requiring masks

Gone from Monday

 

[Howardh]

Further to my posts r/e Spain, still bad news for the unvaxxed (er, get that vax??) https://www.majorcadailybulletin.co...3/mallorca-extension-current-covid-rules.html

At the moment, Spain is still making sure that travellers from the UK either have proof of vaccination or a recovery certificate. However from May 15, these were expected to change.
But, today, Spain has announced that it is extending all existing Covid travel rules for another month until June 15.
So all travellers will continue to remain subject to COVID-19 rules.

 

[kristiang85]

It's going to be interesting to see what happens later this year with those countries saying you are unvaccinated if you haven't had a booster in the last 9 months. As I'm going to be "unvaccinated" from late September if so...

 

[Howardh]

It's going to be interesting to see what happens later this year with those countries saying you are unvaccinated if you haven't had a booster in the last 9 months. As I'm going to be "unvaccinated" from late September if so...

It does appear that a booster means there are no time limits; although a admit the rules are confusing.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/netherlands/entry-requirements for the Netherlands https://www.government.nl/documents...0/covid-19-and-flying-health-declaration-form

Dutch authorities will accept the UK’s proof of COVID-19 vaccination record and proof of COVID-19 vaccination issued in the Crown Dependencies, in paper or digital form. Your final vaccine dose must have been administered at least 14 days prior to travel, and 28 days in the case of the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine. Proof of vaccination is valid for 270 days from the receipt of days after the final dose of your primary vaccination. 270 days after the final dose of the primary vaccination, you need a booster to be considered fully vaccinated. Currently there is no end date for the validity of the booster. An NHS appointment card from vaccination centres does not qualify as proof of vaccination. Travellers must also present a vaccine declaration form.

19 April 2022: From 20 April 2022 0.01 onwards you do not need to complete a health declaration form if you travel to the Netherlands by air.

 

[kristiang85]

It does appear that a booster means there are no time limits; although a admit the rules are confusing.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/netherlands/entry-requirements for the Netherlands https://www.government.nl/documents...0/covid-19-and-flying-health-declaration-form

Ok thanks! Let's hope it stays that way...

 

[nw1]

Further to my posts r/e Spain, still bad news for the unvaxxed (er, get that vax??) https://www.majorcadailybulletin.co...3/mallorca-extension-current-covid-rules.html

There's some ambiguity there.

The article seems to say "Travellers from EU countries need to present proof of vaccination or a recovery pass, but travellers from non-EU countries have stricter rules, and need to present proof of vaccination or a recovery pass".

A mistake?

Personally I hope that there is in fact no difference in treatment based on country of origin. Any politician that thinks that EU countries are inherently "safer" is IMO either a xenophobe, or lacks basic intelligence.

 

[Howardh]

There's some ambiguity there.

The article seems to say "Travellers from EU countries need to present proof of vaccination or a recovery pass, but travellers from non-EU countries have stricter rules, and need to present proof of vaccination or a recovery pass".

A mistake?

Personally I hope that there is in fact no difference in treatment based on country of origin. Any politician that thinks that EU countries are inherently "safer" is IMO either a xenophobe, or lacks basic intelligence.

If you are travelling between Schengen countries in the EU I can't see how there can be any checks. However Ireland isn't in Schengen so they would (or could?) be covid-checked on arrival when they have their passports/ID cards scanned. But that doesn't really clear up the confusion!

 

[nw1]

If you are travelling between Schengen countries in the EU I can't see how there can be any checks. However Ireland isn't in Schengen so they would (or could?) be covid-checked on arrival when they have their passports/ID cards scanned. But that doesn't really clear up the confusion!

What I don't get is why Spain are persisting with these rules, which I suspect will put potential tourists off - as people will prefer countries with no bureaucracy. They rely on tourists for their economy - given that Omicron is really not very dangerous, what is the rationale for continuing to apply these checks?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Better late than never! Just Germany to follow and then a mask-free journey can finally be made across most of continental Europe...

FFP2 grade mask still required in Italy on public transport until June 15 at the earliest.
The recent EU relaxation on aircraft and in airports can be overridden locally, and it's not clear yet which countries will follow.
Easyjet still requires masks on flights to France/Italy/Austria/Germany (not needed for Switzerland and a few others).
Where masks are optional they are still recommended in crowded places.
I think passenger locator forms are gone, but not entirely clear.

Edit: Masks not mandatory on domestic public transport in France from May 16; apparently still needed on aircraft, but not in airports.

 

[nw1]

Americans are still mask mad - with masks being required on Broadway despite end of general NYC mask mandate. American performers even feel free to berate people not wearing masks, and kick them out of the theatre without a refund - https://twitter.com/addisonclover/status/1524225602101944320?s=21 - definitely avoiding blue state USA for the foreseeable future.

I've never had that strong an opinion on masks (either way) but I am surprised that some in the USA - and big-city USA at that, where one would expect a lot of diversity in attitudes - are, in the summer months of 2022, taking such a hardline attitude towards non-mask-wearers. It's one thing the actor having that opinion, but to hear the audience erupt in cheers in agreement sounds at odds with what I would expect.

I notice someone put this quite sensible and pertinent comment:



Only for pretty much all of the replies (mostly from the obviously self-proclaimed folks on 'kinder' left of America, if you look at their profiles, mostly full of pronouns and virtue hashtags) to be, depressingly, saying stuff like this:

These people sound as dangerously extremist as the more militant Trump supporters. Really. And I say this as an anti-Conservative, anti-Brexiter social liberal who detests Donald Trump.

Just seems mindless. It's as if a mandatory part of being an anti-Republican, anti-Trump person is being a militant restrictionist. It's certainly not being very "liberal", that's for sure.

I'm never 100% sure of what "identity politics" means, but is this an example of it? The feel that if you identify as being of a certain social group, you have to sign up to a whole "package" of beliefs, even though in truth you might only believe some of them? As another example, and crossing the political divide, some people might also support Brexit, not because they believe in it, but because it's "expected" for their social group?

 

[Butts]

I've never had that strong an opinion on masks (either way) but I am surprised that some in the USA - and big-city USA at that, where one would expect a lot of diversity in attitudes - are, in the summer months of 2022, taking such a hardline attitude towards non-mask-wearers. It's one thing the actor having that opinion, but to hear the audience erupt in cheers in agreement sounds at odds with what I would expect.

This is Broadway - I imagine the reaction would be quite different in Universal or Disneyland Theaters - Metropolitan Elite ?

 

[Urobach]

Having landed back from the US today (California, Nevada and Grand Canyon briefly), it was pretty relaxed. Lots of signs encouraging use and perhaps more people wearing them than in UK, but I wasn't hassled for not wearing one (not that I'm fussed wearing one for short periods if asked). San Francisco perhaps more pro mask than LA or Vegas. The only places we went that insisted on masks being worn was the lift in coit tower, San Francisco, and if you were called to the stage during Shin Lims show in Las Vegas. However, we hadn't realised BART had changed their policy to mandatory face coverings whilst on trains and platforms and we were in the slight minority not wearing them, but no other passengers bothered us or gave dirty looks despite our unawareness.

Having done a 8/9 hour flight to Cuba in a stuffy TUI 787 November 2020 with face coverings being mandatory with repeated announcements reinforcing the point, I can't begin to tell you how much nicer the flight to SFO was being able to breathe normally!

Did a supervised antigen test, received signed certificate plus attestation etc and uploaded to the verifly app for BA, had all documentation ready for border control....and wasn't mentioned at all by the border officer

Almost back to normality as far as holidays go.

Apologies if post doesn't make sense, I can never sleep on a flight back from the US and I'm shattered!