Current Affairs Coronavirus Thread - Serious stuff !!!

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Some of the decisions the government have made recently regarding travel make you question whether they made it difficult in the summer just to prevent people from going abroad and therefore forcing them to do over priced UK trips.

Its quite quickly went from multiple tests to just a lateral flow when you get back even though cases and deaths in the UK is pretty consistent.

Its a good thing though as it makes travel a lot more doable.
 
grandjoeblue said:
Some of the decisions the government have made recently regarding travel make you question whether they made it difficult in the summer just to prevent people from going abroad and therefore forcing them to do over priced UK trips.

Its quite quickly went from multiple tests to just a lateral flow when you get back even though cases and deaths in the UK is pretty consistent.

Its a good thing though as it makes travel a lot more doable.
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TBF a part of it might be to stop people realising how much of a difference there is abroad.

I am just coming to the end of a trip to France and over here there are easily available PCR tests that give you access to anywhere that requires proof of vaccinations or negative tests. For the French they are free but for the rest it’s 43 euro. They also accept the NHS proof of vaccination letter.

The day 2 UK test that is required to be booked in order that I can get back in cost me £59, and so far at least going through customs here in Paris no one has asked me for it (or for the Passenger Location Form except one lady from Eurostar who made sure one had been filled in). I’ve seen two people from Border Force milling about and the only other security from the U.K. side aee the passport scanning machines.

I can only think security is going to be at St Pancras (although coming here there was French border control at St Pancras) but even so how does that prevent someone we don’t want in getting on the train in the first place? Or someone who hasn’t filled in the PLF properly?
 
tsubaki said:
TBF a part of it might be to stop people realising how much of a difference there is abroad.

I am just coming to the end of a trip to France and over here there are easily available PCR tests that give you access to anywhere that requires proof of vaccinations or negative tests. For the French they are free but for the rest it’s 43 euro. They also accept the NHS proof of vaccination letter.

The day 2 UK test that is required to be booked in order that I can get back in cost me £59, and so far at least going through customs here in Paris no one has asked me for it (or for the Passenger Location Form except one lady from Eurostar who made sure one had been filled in). I’ve seen two people from Border Force milling about and the only other security from the U.K. side aee the passport scanning machines.

I can only think security is going to be at St Pancras (although coming here there was French border control at St Pancras) but even so how does that prevent someone we don’t want in getting on the train in the first place? Or someone who hasn’t filled in the PLF properly?
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I flew back from abroad recently and other than when you check in nobody looks at the PLF or testing information. Its essentially a tick box exercise.

Apparently a large percentage of people don't even do the day 2 test and if you don't do it its not followed up by test and trace.
 
grandjoeblue said:
I flew back from abroad recently and other than when you check in nobody looks at the PLF or testing information. Its essentially a tick box exercise.

Apparently a large percentage of people don't even do the day 2 test and if you don't do it its not followed up by test and trace.
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that is unforgivable, will see if it’s the same on Eurostar
 
No checks at all at St Pancras coming back, just a half dozen Border Force blokes who looked like all they’d been told to do is stand there looking like they were doing something when the train arrived.

I hope no other variant of concern emerges because otherwise there’s nothing to stop it getting back in at all. Was already on a downer because of the end of my holiday but that has just made it worse.

Feel like a complete mug at wasting £59 on a day two test now - at least with the French one you can put it on TousAntiCovid and use it to get into places.
 
tsubaki said:
that is unforgivable, will see if it’s the same on Eurostar
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If they are checking you when checking in or boarding your transport, is that not enough? Not that I want to defend the govt, but this is similar in Germany. I went to Poland recently and their border control checked the docs (very superifically) on entry, but in turn the airline didn't check. On the return from Poland to Germany my docs were checked (more thoroughly) by the check in agents and in turn there were no border checks. Seems to me like there are arrangements between airlines and border controls on who checks the docs. If it was all left to border control the queues would be horrendous.
 
Billy Dean said:
If they are checking you when checking in or boarding your transport, is that not enough? Not that I want to defend the govt, but this is similar in Germany. I went to Poland recently and their border control checked the docs (very superifically) on entry, but in turn the airline didn't check. On the return from Poland to Germany my docs were checked (more thoroughly) by the check in agents and in turn there were no border checks. Seems to me like there are arrangements between airlines and border controls on who checks the docs. If it was all left to border control the queues would be horrendous.
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They aren’t - the French are, but all our border is going is passport scanning. The PLF wasn’t checked at all.
 
tsubaki said:
They aren’t - the French are, but all our border is going is passport scanning. The PLF wasn’t checked at all.
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That's what I mean. For example my trip to London from Germany, on the way to Heathrow the airline staff checked my PLF, test result, vaccination status at the boarding gate and no one checked on arrival at Heathrow. On the way back, the airline staff at the check in desk at Heathrow checked my plf, vaccination etc and then no one checked at the German end when I arrived. I could be wrong but it seems to me there are arrangements in place for things only to be checked once.
 
Billy Dean said:
That's what I mean. For example my trip to London from Germany, on the way to Heathrow the airline staff checked my PLF, test result, vaccination status at the boarding gate and no one checked on arrival at Heathrow. On the way back, the airline staff at the check in desk at Heathrow checked my plf, vaccination etc and then no one checked at the German end when I arrived. I could be wrong but it seems to me there are arrangements in place for things only to be checked once.
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The PLF was only checked in the sense that a Eurostar rep in Paris looked and confirmed one was on my phone. My vaccination status, where I’d been and so on was not checked at all coming back.
Going there my vaccination status was checked (and FWIW it was checked every time I went to a museum over there).

Literally the only thing at the British side of the border was the passport scanner (the baggage check was after that but it was French border police running it).
 
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