Entering UK Now - The Paper Bulldog

One correction.....what you are experiencing is in England and not the entire UK. Each country has it's own rules.

I'm currently in Scotland where the rules are stricter. Mask wearing indoors is required and followed. Crowding is another issue and most stores have somone at the door counting people when they enter and leave. I have seen lines, especially at food stores, of people waiting to get in. Starting Boxing Day there will also be restrcitions at restaurants about crowding and distances,

I head down to London tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to what I will see. Although, most believe new restrictions will be put on after Christmas.

Thanks for the clarification. Yes, I am just talking about London, and its no surprise to me that the virus is exploding.

Sorry for your experience. Unfortunately, Covid rule compliance in England is a joke - I am English. I have been to Wales and Scotland this year and nearly everybody there were wearing masks, fortunately.

In my local Tesco supermarket last week, out of about 15 staff, 3 were wearing masks. When I asked a couple of lads why no masks, they said they were exempt. 12 out of 15? Unlikely. Boris Johnson hasn’t set a great example.

I am not using public transport, going into cafes, restaurants etc as having asthma, I don’t want Covid. I food shop late at night every 10 days or so. Life’s pretty boring. I wouldn’t holiday in England at present, particularly London and the south east. I fear January is going to be worse.

To add one bit. When the French police refused us to get on the Eurostar, and we traveled to Brussels. I used the Wifi in the Brussels airport and filled out entirely new Locator forms just to change the transit information on the form.

Thanks for the update. I’m sure there are some good points take away from your multiple posts for anybody traveling during these uncertain times.

I'm afraid Covid cases are exploding all over Europe, the numbers aren't specifically worse in England (mask mandates and vaccine passports have beenin use in Scotland and Wales yet this han't altered the infection rates) it's just cases are recorded differently, Sweden has a remarkably much lower testing rate than the UK which would, on paper, appear that their rates are significantly lower however the reality is simply that only those being counted are being recorded, the reality is much higher.

Yes, masks help and here in the US is the same as England. Lots of people think that a booster means no masks needed. However 3 vaccinated friends and their families all have COVID now due to not wearing masks inside at a restaurant. At least this latest scare has people in the grocery store wearing masks in my town. A month ago only 40% wore them and 3 cashiers didn’t wear them because “they had all their shots”.
Good luck getting home. A friend flew back to Germany today and had a whole row to themselves. Meanwhile my cross country flight is packed solid.

London (and England) are indeed interesting cases. London has the lowest vaccination rates in the UK, and mask wearing also seems much less popular in England than the rest of the UK (and certainly lower than most countries on the continent). At the same time, vaccination uptake in England (London excluded) has been quite good, testing seems to be very widely accessible and accepted (folks willing to make it a matter of routine to do it often).

I suppose the rest of England and the UK as a whole should feel somewhat comforted they'll fare much better with omicron than London, and assuming London itself gets through omicron ok it'll all make for some pretty widespread seropositivity (omicron "inoculating" those who do not get vaccinated, so to speak) but for a good long while now I've been kind of fascinated seeing YouTube videos or news stories from London or Instagram posts from friends who live there showing just how uncommon masks are.

how is your quarantine while waiting for your Day 2 tests results going? Have you discovered Deliveroo?

We took 2nd day tests Monday night that were purchased through amazon. They were mailed out Tuesday morning together. I got my negative test Tue evening but my wife’s test was delayed in transit . Finally Thursday night we found out hers is positive. If they had delayed a few more hours we might have had to wait 3 more days to get a result because of Xmas.

So it will be a solitary Xmas in hotel for us.

RailRider, I am so sorry to hear that your wife tested positive after all you went through getting in to the UK. I know this is a long shot, but have you had her test twice on the small chance it was a false positive.?

I only ask as I had a false positive when I was traveling in Mexico a few months back, and then was negative when retested. I realized you mentioned your wife had been feeling ill in other posts, so maybe it doesn't apply.

Thank you for sharing your story. It's lead me to keep a careful eye on things here in Spain. I hope your wife is feeling better soon.

Thanks. She’s been very sick and she is some who is very healthy and almost never gets sick. Even now she doesn’t sleep more than an hour without a coughing fit. So the positive test is not a total surprise.
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Some of these countries make 10% of their GDP from tourists like us - but they don’t seem to care what happens to us otherwise. Some places they don’t prosecute pickpockets. There are no alternatives for rail strikes. And now lightning fast policy changes that make no sense.

Sorry she's not well.

So you were negative in Paris and Brussels and she positive earlier this week in the UK.

Is there any support you need?

Do you know about the special Covid phone number if she gets very poorly - 119.

And the main non-emergency number for the NHS help - 111.

And of course, and I hope you don't need it, the emergency number for ambulance etc. - 999.

I hope that you stay well and she improves soon.

That’s one of the problems with this virus: you can have symptoms and still test negative. It happened to me: I didn’t test positive until the 3rd day of my symptoms though, once the symptoms start, a person is contagious. Next, it doesn’t means a spouse or traveling companion who has had the 3rd shot will ever test positive. My 36 year-old, triple-vaxxed son got Omicron but his wife didn’t. It’s a wiley beast.

Edit: Since you now need plan C, here is how a person who tests positive can take a plane to the US. This was sent to me by another RS poster when I tested positive. It was very useful.
Here is what the CDC says about travel:

"If you recently recovered from COVID-19, you may instead travel with documentation of recovery from COVID-19 (i.e., your positive COVID-19 viral test result on a sample taken no more than 90 days before the flight’s departure from a foreign country and a letter from a licensed healthcare provider or a public health official stating that you were cleared to travel)."

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html

Further down the page under FAQ:

"People who have recovered from COVID-19 can continue to test positive for up to 3 months after their infection. CDC does not recommend retesting within 3 months after a person with COVID-19 first developed symptoms of COVID-19 (or the date their sample was taken for their first positive viral diagnostic test if their infection was asymptomatic).

If you have had a positive viral test on a sample taken during the past 90 days, and you have met the criteria to end isolation, you may travel instead with your positive viral test results and a signed letter from a licensed healthcare provider or a public health official that states you have been cleared for travel. The positive test result and letter together are referred to as “documentation of recovery.”

A letter from your healthcare provider or a public health official that clears you to end isolation, e.g., to return to work or school, can be used to show you are cleared to travel, even if travel isn’t specifically mentioned in the letter. The letter must have information that identifies you personally (e.g., name and date of birth) that matches the personal identifiers on your passport or other travel documents. The letter must be signed and dated on official letterhead that contains the name, address, and phone number of the healthcare provider or public health official who signed the letter.

If you have recovered from COVID-19 but are not able to obtain documentation of recovery that fulfills the requirements, you will need to show a negative COVID-19 viral test result from a sample taken no more than 3 days (or 1 day if you are not fully vaccinated) before your flight to the US departs.
Even if you have recovered from COVID-19, if you develop symptoms of COVID-19 you should isolate, not travel, and consult with a healthcare provider for testing recommendations."

Thanks @Bets.

I am in this boat now. I tested positive last Saturday and am just past the mid-way point of my isolation (in the States). My question is this:

I know the letter from my doc and a positive test will clear me to fly to/from the U.S. But I am wondering if it will also allow me to avoid the two-day test when arriving in the U.K.? I should be fully recovered by then, but if they make me take a test, everyone says I will definitely test positive. Then what? Isolate in London for 90 days? My trip is only a week long and I leave Jan. 10th.

wondering if it will also allow me to avoid the two-day test when arriving in the U.K.

Quite simply - no. You must book a Day 0-2 Test; it comes with a reference number for the PLF. Your airline will not let you board the flight if you don't have it.

If you test positive in the UK, see here under Test Results

You should reconsider your plans to travel at this time.

Certainly the UK has a protocol for recovered people who still test positive, but we don't know it. I agree with remblin that you might want to find a way to avoid going to the UK but fly home directly from wherever you are. Unless someone can direct you to the place on the National Healthcare website that spells out the protocol step-by-step, you could have a bad surprise.

This website might help:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-to-england-from-another-country-during-coronavirus-covid-19#check-if-you-qualify-as-fully-vaccinated

You would think/hope they would have some provision for those previously infected. I mean, I have already tested positive and quarantined. I will test positive for 90 days, but that doesn't mean I am a danger to others at all. It is just my body shedding non-viable virus. Unfortunately, the whole purpose of my trip is to see a particulate piece of art that is only on exhibit through January, and then will be out of public view for an unforeseen time period.

PharmerPhil, 90 days is a max, if you had a bad case, not an absolute. For little cases, like mine and possibly yours, the negative results return in a couple of weeks.

You could try unreported home testing to determine when your results have returned to negative before getting a reported test. However, your home test, an antigen, will test negative earlier than a reported PCR. If that happens, would you set off new isolation protocols? This is why the CDC and France ask people to refrain from retesting for 90 days. It's tricky.

perhaps call the Embassy and ask what to do in your circumstances