Haven't checked this space since summer. Considering travelling to England this summer. Any travel restrictions/requirements entering/visiting England?
Only if you are coming from China, either as a Chinese person, or having come from there as a tourist.
Otherwise no restrictions at all.
Absolutely super. What a relief.
I was there in December, COVID is but a distant memory as far as the people of London are concerned. For good or bad.
It's not strictly true that it's a distant memory. It may be to many, but not all. You will still see perspex protective screens everywhere, in the Archives where I volunteer the staff have only just got rid of their masks in the last fortnight, and we are still social distancing, extravagantly so. I don't know about 2 metres there- it's more like 10 metres.
I, at least, expect you to keep your distance if you are in a store and will take whatever steps are necessary to maintain that distance. Some of the staff in the biggest store are still doing likewise and still wearing masks all the time.
I am still letting busy transit go by and have not yet been back to Church.
There are an unknown number of people like me, quadruple vaccinated as I am, still in that position.
I am still carrying a mask around and will not hesitate to don it if I feel seriously threatened in a busy situation I can not readily escape from. I don't believe it works, it is more of a final warning.
All outward restrictions like proof of vaccination etc may have gone, but distant memory is maybe a step too far.
Last fall I cancelled a holiday in Europe and have done so again for this Spring.
It is interesting that many more people in America still seem to be outwardly where I am inwardly, from the livestreams I am at weekly, and have just been to.
Yet, keeping in mind the increased possibility of contracting this virus when surrounded by crowds of travelers, I will welcome traveling without the extreme stress I experienced two years ago in Switzerland and somewhat last summer in Germany.
You will still see perspex protective screens everywhere,
No you won’t.
There is no need to be anxious about traveling to England. There is no covid restriction for American tourists. I was there in June and September and saw very few people wearing masks. The requirement to have a negative covid test to return to the US was dropped in June of 2022. If you are a US citizen you do not even need to be vaccinated to come and go between countries. UK citizens, however, do need to be vaccinated to enter the US. I walked around London, attended Church in the local village, went to many pubs, and rarely saw people using masks or keeping their distance. I did not come back with Covid on either trip, but I did catch it after a weekend trip to Chicago!
I spent five months in the UK last year--on and off--with the last return to the US last month.
Masks are not required anywhere. If you want to wear one, no one will bother you. Hand sanitizer and masks are available everywhere and discounted. Covid tests, the same brand as sold here in the US, can be had for less than 2 GBP.
No one will ask you for proof of vaccinationss.
I always carried a mask in case I found myself in a very crowded situation or around people who were coughing or sneezing.
Recently, I had a cold and wore one so I didn't spread it to others.
It's no good telling me that Black is White. In my part of the country the plastic screens ARE still omnisprescent.
Even our local heritage railway still has them between all the seats (and it looks so ugly) and last week a main line steam excursion train came through- that still had the screens between each table, which took me by surprise a bit.
Social distancing may not be required, but is still a common courtesy. In the town where I live it is still extremely common to step aside on the pavements as you walk around, surprisingly so.
Clearly in London and other tourist hotspots that is less or not at all viable. But then space wise it never was.
I will be attending a local council meeting tonight. Nothing may be explicitly stated but the councillors are still distanced from each other, as is the public "gallery" where seats are still apart from each other, and it is frowned on to move them closer.
On one of our big national TV quiz shows (The Chase) there is still no hand shaking- just air fist bumping. I note, by the way, that Jeopardy, in the US still has the plexigrass screens between the contestants- which are so low they are all about gesturing.
It is actually all about being socially and spatially aware, and respectful of other people's needs. In a small town that always was much more to the fore even than in the close by central Lake District.
You don't know people's personal circumstances- to you Covid may be a 2 day inconvenience to shrug off, especially if you have a family support network . To people like me, in my own circumstances (which I don't have to explain here), even a mild case could be quite a problem.
Just be thoughtful and don't assume, and don't be oblivious to other people's needs- that applies equally to my own countrymen.
My big worry about international travel at the moment isn't catching Covid at the destination. It is catching it on the plane there, then it developing while at my destination, in a country where health care systems are different and not free.
You will still see perspex protective screens everywhere,
No you won’t.
Maybe not in Cornwall.
They are around here in the East and East Midlands.
I was in a Lakeland shop today (special trip) and greeted by a large sanitizer machine on the way in and all along the till line was a double width of Perspex screens - alternating gap and screen with about 5cm between so conversation was easy, and the card machine for tapping was in its own little Perspex cave.
You will still see perspex protective screens everywhere,
Okay I will rephrase my comment.
They are nowhere that I go in Cornwall and London.
My experience has been that places that went to a lot of trouble and expense to put them up, are reluctant to take them down