Entering England During Corona Virus

We were overjoyed at the news that our 4th grandchild has just been born in the UK, and of course thoughts immediately turned to grabbing a flight to go and have a cuddle!

Just one problem we are in the middle of a pandemic.

I have subscribed to updates from the UK government and the Spanish equivalent for the rules about returning to Tenerife, and believe me you really do need to check all the time – requirements seem to change almost daily.

At the time of writing (15 July 2021), as our family are based near Nottingham, this is the check-list of information links for England (never mind Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales – they have their own quirks and requirements)

Please Please if you are doing this exercise for yourselves go to the “horses mouth” as these links could be out of date in a matter of days.

From 4am, Monday 19 July, the government will no longer recommend against travel to amber list countries. People covered by the amber list rules, who have been fully vaccinated under the UK vaccination programme, will not need to quarantine on arrival in England or take a COVID-19 test on day 8. For further information:
https://www.gov.uk/

Great I thought, we’ll wait until the 19th July, Tenerife is in the Amber list but both of us have been completely vaccinated – we won’t need to quarantine – then I read it properly “who have been fully vaccinated under the UK vaccination programme” Well we haven’t, we were vaccinated in Tenerife and have the European Certificate to prove it, but apparently that’s not good enough – even though the Spanish authorities tell me that entry into Spain from the UK is fine if the person has a certificate (issued from ANY reputable source by the way)

UPDATE 28 July 2021

From 4am 2 August 2021, passengers who are fully vaccinated in the EU with vaccines authorised by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or in the USA with vaccines authorised by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or in the Swiss vaccination programme, will be able to travel to England without having to quarantine or take a day 8 test on arrival.
Amber arrivals who have been fully vaccinated in the USA and European countries will still be required to complete a pre-departure test before arrival into England, alongside a PCR test on or before day 2 after arrival. Separate rules will continue to apply for those arriving from France. Those vaccinated in the US will also need to provide proof of US residency. Passengers from all countries cannot travel to the UK unless they have completed a passenger locator form. source: UK travel update: government waives quarantine for arrivals fully vaccinated from Europe and USA while also confirming international cruise restart – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Hardly seems fair does it? Lets look at that again:

If you are not fully vaccinated under the UK vaccination programme, you will have to quarantine on arrival and take both the day 2 and day 8 tests.

I have a lot of time for the British Consulate in The Canary Islands and The Embassy in Madrid – they have tried so hard under trying circumstances for years now – but they don’t make the rules.

They say in their statement on Facebook (right)

This is good news for anyone coming to visit you here in Spain, but we recognise the disappointment that this exemption does not apply to you.The government is taking a phased approach to amending requirements and is already exploring plans to remove quarantine for vaccinated non-UK residents arriving from amber countries later this summer, when it is safe to do so. We will update you as soon as we have further news on this.

How can the distinction made between a completed vaccination carried out by the British National Health and, in our case the Spanish National Health, be anything other than Political? There is no scenario that I can imagine where there could be a scientific justification for this.

Well while the powers that be are “reviewing the situation” lets look at the Covid Test and Quarantine early release test options (remember Tenerife is on the Amber list at the time of writing):

The testing requirements would seriously add to the cost of our trip (don’t forget I’m a pensioner now ㋡ ) However this is the scary bit, in the event of positive result Your household will need to quarantine with you immediately and continue for 10 days, with the day of the test counting as day zero – Yes we have been fully vaccinated, but that doesn’t preclude us getting or carrying the virus and showing a positive result. How could we possibly inflict that on our family?,

Having now given up the will to live, I will leave you to follow through the rest of the process in the links below – hopefully they will be of some use to some of you because it doesn’t look like we will be travelling anytime soon

Thank God for Facetime!

Arriving from a green or amber list country or territory

Find a coronavirus (COVID-19) travel test provider and book the tests you need if you’ve been in a country or territory on the green or amber list in the 10 days before you arrive in England.

If you’re arriving from an amber list country or territory, you may be able to end quarantine early if you arrange and pay for a private COVID-19 test as part of the test to release scheme.

Find out how the test to release scheme works.

By the way I now have 7 tabs open on my laptop – good luck trying to navigate your way through this lot on a smart ‘phone

So let’s carry on then:

Before travel to England

Before you travel to England you must:

take a COVID-19 test
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

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

Read about quarantine and taking COVID-19 tests.

Children aged 4 and under do not need to take the day 2 or day 8 test.

You may be able to end quarantine early if you pay for a private COVID-19 test through the Test to Release scheme.

OK, deep breaths, stay calm, break it down into manageable parts – sounds easy (NOT!)

First off which kind of test – oh there’s another whole page on that Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing before you travel to England – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) – 8 tabs open now.

Lets assume that one’s been booked so now have a look at the test needed in England – oh no almost forgot the passenger locator form – 10 tabs open now

source: Quarantine and testing if you’ve been in an amber list country – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

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World Grandparent’s Day it is a relatively recent innovation, if we compare it with the celebration of other special days, which is why few people (me included) know what its origin is or why it was established. The celebration was introduced to the UK in 1990 by the charity Age Concern. It has been celebrated on the first Sunday in October since 2008, although it has not been as successful commercially as Mother’s and Father’s Day. Very recently Pope Francis declared World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, to take place annually on the fourth Sunday of July but here in Spain, Grandparents’ Day ( Día de los abuelos y las abuelas) is celebrated on July 26, the feast day of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, parents of Mary, the mother of Jesus. This factoid popped up on my social media today and got me thinking about my own family history. As the child of older parents who had both been married before, three of my grandparents had passed away before I was even born, but my mothe...

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