I have seen on the UK government website that COVID testing should be 72 hours before the last direct flight to England but I have also seen that the test must be taken in the three days before departure. Since we depart in the evening the correct interpretation is important. We depart SeaTac at 7:15 PM. on a Tuesday. One interpretation would mean we have to take the test after 7:15 PM on Saturday before the flight at the earliest. The other interpretation would allow us to take it anytime on that Saturday. We live in a small town in eastern WA and only have testing available at a Walgreens which closes at 6PM. The test needs to be sent to Seattle to be processed. One way it would be sent at the end of the day Saturday and the other at the end of the day Sunday. We are not guaranteed the results in 72 hours. Does anyone know the correct interpretation of the test timing? Has anyone had a similar situation? We don't want to test on Saturday before they close and then be told at the gate it isn't within 72 hours. If we wait to test on Sunday we could easily not get the results in time. I have talked to the airline we are flying out on. She just read what I did and gave me her interpretation. England is very COVID particular so we want to get this right. Thanks for any suggestions.
Posted by
Paris
10104 posts
I would go with the official UK government website which says “the test must be taken in the 3 days before you depart.”
Further:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-testing-for-people-travelling-to-england
From the UK gov website:
You must take the test in the 3 days before the service on which you will arrive in England departs.
For example, if you travel directly to England on Friday, you can take the test on or after Tuesday and will need to have the negative result available before boarding on Friday.
The UK gov site above gives you the ability to print that page — I would print it and have it in my folder of documents.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33720 posts
If you are talking about fairly soon, at the moment the USA and Canada are on the UK AMBER list which means 10 days of quarantine on arrival.
From the official site for AMBER list countries https://www.gov.uk/guidance/red-amber-and-green-list-rules-for-entering-england :
take a COVID-19 test up to 3 days before
book and pay for day 2 and day 8 COVID-19 travel tests – to be taken after arrival in England
complete a passenger locator form
On arrival in England you must:
quarantine at home or in the place you are staying for 10 days
take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8
As you will not be travelling through or from a RED list country you have the option of "Test To Release" https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-test-to-release-for-international-travel which means signing up for this before you complete your Passenger Locator Form before you leave home, paying for a fourth test to be taken after 5 full days here, and if you are negative on that test you are free to leave quarantine. You still must take the day 8 test however.
All the tests here must be bought and paid for before you leave home - you will have to show proof...
Posted by
Hobart Tasmania
405 posts
Dear Ken and other us citizens who are spending sleepless nights and days speculating over this conundrum.
May I suggest this radical idea from left field. Try emailing your questions to Alexander Boris Pfeffel Johnson: [email protected] . Or other government ministers. Email addresses are readily available on the UK government website. However, I suspect both the PM and other ministers and staff have far more pressing matters of state to deal with. Should a staffer decide to answer you could share the response with your fellow citizens.
Regards Ron