COVID worries

Hi, Julia. I’m headed to the UK on Sunday so I’ve thought through some of these same questions.

There are no quarantine hotels. There is not even an official quarantine in the UK, but if you test positive you are asked to mask up and limit contacts with others.You can move to another hotel without an issue. I’d suggest one near Heathrow for lower price. You wouldn’t really be going out much after a positive test.

I suggest that you bring an over the counter Covid test with you and test about half way through your trip. If negative, you know you are on track. If positive, you know to get an official Covid test (could be telemedicine one brought from home) and start the clock ticking on your certificate of recovery.

It is possible to obtain a certificate of recovery 5 days after an official positive test if you are asymptomatic or have improving symptoms. Greater detail on this topic is available on the thread certificate of recovery on the Covid travel topic of this forum.

I am hoping that I never need to deal with positive tests, but I am prepared if I need to, both mentally and financially.

Folks are not masking up where I've been in Austria, Germany, or Heathrow, and it's so tempting to follow suit, but stay safe and mask up so you can go home on time. Safe travels!

I’m in London now—having an absolutely fabulous time!!—and on Friday morning I take my test through Collinsons at St Pancras, thanks to this forum I have a basic plan for if I am positive. First I will see if my hotel has any options; if not then find something cheaper but not horrid. My room is $250 US so I know cheaper is possible. I arrived last Friday morning and tested myself Sunday night, going to do it again tonight.

Be prepared—people wearing masks here are few and far between, even at places that had all kinds of signs or in close quarters or in a jam-packed Tube train. Maybe 1 in 40. Hard to stay vigilant but it’s not been terrible and the weather has cooperated so eating outdoors has been nice.

@Christa. Premier Inns out by Heathrow are running about $53-$75 a night right now. If you need a cheaper room to isolate, that may work for you. It is my backup plan :)

I, too, have a backup plan of staying at a Premier Inn near Heathrow if I test positive. The one connected to Terminal 4 is especially cheap right now because Terminal 4 has not reopened. You'd likely need to arrive via cab or occasional bus.

I don’t want to scare you, but day after day on this forum, people are concerned about testing positive the day before they return home. My concern would be more focussed on what if you get ill earlier on in your stay? I know more people that have tested positive in the past month than the entire 2 previous years and a couple of them (fit and healthy ladies in their 50s) have both been too unwell to get out of bed for several days. Yes, you need a plan in case you have to stay here longer, but you also need to consider what if you are unwell mid trip. Be prepared to be flexible.

Booking into a Premier Inn is sound advice as they offer good value. Try to reduce your risk of catching Covid by wearing a mask, minimising the use of public transport and eat outdoors where possible. Avoid crowded indoor places such as theatres and concerts.

Having just returned from Germany we went through this anxiety. I thought we had a good plan to stay at an airport hotel. Once we were there we realized it would be miserable because the windows didn’t open. We felt like we would be living in a terrarium! Fortunately we tested negative.
My advice would be to have a hotel in mind that has windows that open, is close to restaurants/ groceries for delivery service,and has something interesting to look at.
At the airport Hilton the clerk told us they would not allow us to stay if we tested positive before we checked in. She said once we were checked in and then tested positive, they would let us stay.
We were self- testing throughout, to avoid any surprises and be better prepared.

Wishing you the best.

Would anyone know how the Tube is doing on weekends?

What percentage of people are masked?
How busy does it get?

Work on the basis that 10% of people on the tube will be wearing masks and be pleasantly surprised if it’s higher.

Certain tube stations such as Camden Town will be busier at the weekend than weekdays, whilst the outlying stations will be quieter than during the week early mornings. Stations near football grounds will be busy on match days, as will stations near any large scale events such as concerts, marches etc.

Buses are a good alternative to taking the tube and have better ventilation.

Pastorash—I have taken the Tube daily since last Friday and it’s as crowded, to me, as it was when I last visited in September 2019. Rush hours in morning and afternoon are jam-packed trains, weekend was busier and the amount of kids I am seeing indicates school holidays. The routes to tourist attractions are always busy, occasionally I have gone somewhere at off-hours—Camden Market at 1:30 on a Monday—and that was just moderate. I see very few masks, perhaps 1 in 40.

Carol- thanks for the suggestion to test midway to not be surprised. This seems like something I should have thought of (we are also going for 3 weeks in June much like Juliaklkeith), but when I read that I had an ah-ha moment. I have several of the iHealth tests that the govt. sent out so I can easily pack and use those to check. And they were free-- even better!

I just have a question about this, is this concern because the USA still requires US Citizens to test negative on returning to the US? We (fully vax and boosted Canadian citizens) are going to England in July, we do not have to test negative to return to Canada after our trip we just need to prove we are vaccinated using the ArriveCan app.

Wondering if I am missing something ? Victoria in Canada

@victorialittler - U.S. is one of the last countries that are requiring a negative COVID test before returning. I think Japan is the only other country who is still requiring a negative test to enter.