Negative Covid test will be needed to enter the UK

[Maisiemoo]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55582116

[EnjoyingTheSun]

A concern is having a negative covid test or a vaccine certificate issued by a country that to all intents and purposes doesn’t exist

[eastendjoker]

It has taken long enough this

[Maisiemoo]

I don't see a problem. My husband had.a fit to fly certificate from a TRNC hospital that was accepted by Easyjet. The onus is going to be on the airline to check before flying.

[EnjoyingTheSun]

I don't see a problem. My husband had.a fit to fly certificate from a TRNC hospital that was accepted by Easyjet. The onus is going to be on the airline to check before flying.

That's reassuring although obviously Easyjet via Larnaca might not be an option. My concern is that this could be used in the same way 'security' is used to curtail direct flights or staying on the same flight in transit

[waddo]

When everyone else in the UK has had a negative PCR test within 72 hours of my arrival I may consider going there, till then I am staying where I live.

[Deniz1]

Why have they waited so long its always been a requirement in our little country.

[Dalartokat]

Why have they waited so long its always been a requirement in our little country.

As the link above indicates, the U.K. does not want the roll out of the vaccination to be hampered by people arriving from certain countries, South Africa being one. Also we are in lockdown and now London is critical, declaring a major incident and this is due to the second strain of the virus which is spreading fast also in the Southeast of England.

The whys and wherefores of why we didn’t do things earlier is neither here nor there now, it is what it is and we all have to suck it up.

[Deniz1]

But if it had been done before the vaccine roll out it wouldnt be such a huge problem.

[Maisiemoo]

Why have they waited so long its always been a requirement in our little country.

I think the clue is in 'little country'. It's far easier to manage when you only have 2 flights a day coming in and a population of half a percent of that of the UK. Ireland has only just started to require production of a negative PCR test too, I think it will become the norm now for travel.

[Trigger]

Why have they waited so long its always been a requirement in our little country.

I think the clue is in 'little country'. It's far easier to manage when you only have 2 flights a day coming in and a population of half a percent of that of the UK. Ireland has only just started to require production of a negative PCR test too, I think it will become the norm now for travel.

It is, but countries with similar number of flights to England have long ago had tighter controls on their borders and as a result, are in a much better position currently.

My friend is emigrating to Australia this week. Her and her family have to spend 2 weeks in a hotel, at their cost and are not even allowed to open the window!

At some point, when the dust has settled on COVID-19, we will have to look back at what we did well and what we did not so well. Allowing travellers to enter our country without any testing (until this weekend) or hotel quarantine etc will definitely be one of things that we didn’t do so well with... in my opinion of course.

[Dalartokat]

But if it had been done before the vaccine roll out it wouldnt be such a huge problem.

Totally agree, but each time it was spoken about last September onwards, the U.K. Government wanted to try other ways of dealing with it. This is about the second strain, last year, the rates of infection were no where near as they are now. It’s the speed of which this virus is going. The next four weeks in U.K. are critical, due to people at Xmas mixing. This morning Sadik Kaan, the London Mayor, has said London is out of control. Harsh measures to come. People everywhere have to stick to the guidelines and only go out according to those guidelines, if you don’t have to go out, then don’t.

Even when you get vaccinated, it’s not a Silver bullet, again, you have to follow the guidelines and that already is causing concern in U.K. because people think because they have been vaccinated they can out as normal.

[EnjoyingTheSun]

It is, but countries with similar number of flights to England have long ago had tighter controls on their borders and as a result, are in a much better position currently.

I could never figure the joined up thinking in the UK of locking down then letting in countless flights from covid hotspots tbh.
Although when Trump stopped flights from China he was accused of xenophobia by Biden and worse by others so I guess PR has had a lot to do with how governments handled the crisis.

One thing to consider is politicians like to demonstrate their capacity to act, their capacity for decision making and the importance to be seen to do something. It's important to have a plan and quick. It seems better to have a bad plan than no plan. Maybe people forgive inefficiency more than apparent apathy?

I think there are so many variables to this that it is very difficult to come up with a cohesive and proportionate plan. What may suit one country or will float in one country won't in another so you can't just cherry pick.

Off topic but relevant I think.
Many might Margaret Thatcher droning on about the efficiency of Japan and how 3 people were paid to count lamp posts in places in England. Which wasn't totally untrue.
At the time Japan had a very efficient manufacturing industry and used far less people to make a car the England did.
The other side of that coin was people have to do something. So if 6 people are making something instead of 12 what are you going to do with the other 6?
Yes you could just make them unemployed but you lose a lot of savings there and the social impact is horrendous.
So Japan ended up having the most efficient industry in the world and the most inefficient local government.
They had 6 people making stuff and 6 people counting lamp posts.

[EnjoyingTheSun]

Even when you get vaccinated, it’s not a Silver bullet, again, you have to follow the guidelines and that already is causing concern in U.K. because people think because they have been vaccinated they can out as normal.

There's a lot of making it up as you go here from governments. Also I think people are getting stir crazy and just can't put their lives on permanent hold.

I know a lot of people who were on furlough who 9 months later have now been made redundant because companies and people aren't seeing an end in sight. Companies know, like the likes of Merit out here, that when/if the lockdown ends they aren't suddenly going to be running at full capacity/turnover so they won't need anything like the staff they had so it is pointless to drag out the inevitable.

Like you say the vaccine Isn't a silver bullet nor is it going to put the world back to how we were pre-covid and everyone will just pick up where they left off.