It says "Welcome to the UK. You are now required to quarantine for 10 days and take 2 further coronavirus tests. Otherwise you may be fined.<other stuff about contacting me>"
I'm assuming they can't fine me if they've sent it incorrectly, hence planning to ignore. I've double checked my locator form etc and I don't seem to have made an error. My wife has got the same text message this morning. If they contact me I guess I'll say wtf to them?
EDIT: can't be close contact, app isn't on my phone / haven't actually had close contact with anyone in about a year!
@ewan I had that yesterday too after returning from France on Sunday. Then someone turned up on my doorstep to check I was self isolating, I told them that I didn't have to and they said 'oh you've come from France, the form hasn't caught up with the change in regulations yet'. They were happy and friendly, poked around on their phone for a bit and told me it was fine and I didn't have to isolate and went on their way. My wife filled in the same form in the same way and didn't get the text or the visit!
Later that day I got another text from UK_Gov apologising for the error and telling me I didn't have to isolate.
what with the:
high costs to the individuals (profits going somewhere tho...)
inaccuracy of self administered tests
the reported low percentage of "Day 2" PCRs being tested in a suitable timeframe and pathetically low percentage of positives being sequenced as a 'new variant' check
ongoing confusion and questionable competence of the T&T teams...
how long till Boris/Sunak decide its all TFD i wonder.
@ewan I had that yesterday too after returning from France on Sunday. Then someone turned up on my doorstep to check I was self isolating, I told them that I didn’t have to and they said ‘oh you’ve come from France, the form hasn’t caught up with the change in regulations yet’. They were happy and friendly, poked around on their phone for a bit and told me it was fine and I didn’t have to isolate and went on their way. My wife filled in the same form in the same way and didn’t get the text or the visit!
@flatpack ah ok, that sounds like the same thing... will see if someone knocks on the door! We're not actually planning on going anywhere until the weekend anyway!
EDIT: can’t be close contact, app isn’t on my phone / haven’t actually had close contact with anyone in about a year!
Did you fly in from france?
If you end up sat next to/near to someone on the plane that tests positive you'll get a similar email/text/phone call telling you to isolate - its all done from the travel locator form - no apps involved.
Nope - eurotunnel sat in our camper van after spending a week in a wet not massively busy campsite. Maybe that's it though.... they wanted a seat number / flight for the euro tunnel (which doesn't have such things - generally you don't even know what exact train you'll be going on) so i just wrote 'eurotunnel'. Perhaps the computer has decided we sat next to everyone on eurotunnel! Tho you'd think the text message would say that rather than saying 'welcome to the uk'.
Off to France next week and the covid test company decided priority delivery meant 12 days after ordering so our test to return pack will arrive just before we get home. So can I get a test for return done in France? In Morzine if that helps. Thanks
Day 2 pcrs are now down to £20 a head, which makes a decent discount on total cost for a family. Ignore the ferry and airline discounts, just go direct
Where from?
Just my experience but steer clear of Randox for PCRs, we used them as they were cheap but then saw the Dispatches show on them regarding cross contamination.
3 of our Day 2 PCRs came back negative then one sons turned up 7 hours later positive.
He's fit as fiddle, negative lateral flows before and since plus a further PCRs us all a day later that were all negative.
Now fielding 10 calls a day from track and trace as they seem to have multiple account IDs for us all and seemingly can't cross reference anything.
£20 quid is pretty decent, anyone know what the Pharmacy in Morzine is charging for the pre arrival / Departure tests?
@Stainypants - French government site seems pretty clear that anyone over 12 & under 18 that isn't vaccinated needs a prearrival test. Would be delighted to be proved wrong here.
So can I get a test for return done in France? In Morzine if that helps. Thanks
From where I am sitting (Paris) I can probably throw a stone and hit at least three places to get a return test. I'd imagine most towns of any size are the same - basically every pharmacy, of which France has zillions.
I think €29 is the official price; we paid €25.
https://www.find-travel-test-provider.service.gov.uk/test-type/blockquote >
Didnt Which? find that none of those low price offers actually exist unless you're one of the first three people to drive through in Norwich a week on Wednesday?
I’ve just tried about three of those £20 day 2 test links and none of them came back with valid prices.
We bought the pre travel and return (lateral flow) tests from c19testing.co.uk at £29 each. Son (he's 13) had to have one for entry to France. Haven't booked the the day 2 yet. Will wait for nearer the time.
Pharmacy in Morzine (high Street) seems to have a queue all day for covid tests.
@leonthepro we used C19 for our lateral flows, very easy submission and fast results/certificate, 4 hours pre departure and 1 hour on return
Does anyone know if you are legally obliged to take a day 2 test? I know you have to buy one, but use it? Reading the stories of how badly the system works.
@mrmo legally yes but given when track and trace called after my sons positive test they had no idea it was a day 2 test , no knowledge we’d been to Greece and none of the info we’d submitted with the tests (DOB/Address/Flight and Seat No/Passport number) I’d be surprised if 10 days hadn’t passed by the time they caught up with you.
Speaking to the track and trace guy today they only receive positives so likely the first people to contact you will be the test provider asking where it was rather than T and T
@benhouldsworth , thanks, and thanks for the comment re c19, I have bought a couple of their tests for the return, puts my mind a little more at rest. Lets hope tomorrow goes ok as I start the drive down to Switzerland.
Had a random thought on the way back from London today....
"why are we going to the Peaks now that France is open again"
From what i can gather as both myself and wife are double vaccinated, we're OK on way out.
We need a test for the boy within 24 hours of leaving (he's 13) which seems to be £80 from Madjeski in Reading.... then he/we will need a test on way back which is local pharmacy for 29 Euro (just run them and had a broken conversation with them). Within 3 days of coming back to UK...
Anything we're missing here just before we press some buttons.
For those coming to France , the tests in local pharmacie are very busy . Especially in small towns ; not all chemist do them .
Anything we’re missing here just before we press some buttons.
Have you factored-in possibility that one of those tests comes back positive (lost holiday / extended holiday... )
Have you factored-in possibility that one of those tests comes back positive (lost holiday / extended holiday… )
Aye.... that'd be an inconvenience for sure 😀
We had the same discussions at the beginning of the week, would usually be in the Alps but are off up to Scotland instead. The campsites haven't been paid for and could have been cancelled at no cost.
We felt that the commitment we made when booked should outweigh us disappearing to France, in addition is still the uncertainty that the rules have been forever changing with little notice.
Our daughter who would usually spend the summer abroad biking and competing has decided to do the same and has borrowed her dads van and is touring Wales.
One of our younger work colleagues, had 1st jab, had a weeks holiday in Spain a couple of weeks back and was due to fly to Madera the week later. He was pinged a few days after arriving home and has had to isolate so missed the second holiday, he started with the symptoms a few days later and tested positive.
I'm not sure its worth the hassle and stress at this moment in time.
So my thoughts of a week in Croatia have become a long weekend in the Lake District.
Maybe next year
So my thoughts of a week in Croatia have become a long weekend in the Lake District.
You did well to get three days accommodation in the lakes for the price of a week in Croatia.
Unless you have a modest, but very comfortable boat on the west coast of course.
Tunnel to France just now super efficient and fast.
I’m not sure its worth the hassle and stress at this moment in time.
That is a very good summary of the conversation that took place in our house a few weeks ago.
Never seen the tunnel so quiet. Now in a hotel in Troyes for the night.
Other Brits are starting to appear here. Queue for the village pharmacy test site is pretty noticeable. No queue at the one in Saint Jupe though.
TAC pass works everywhere we’ve tried it which is great - even at little restaurants on the mountains.
Need to lat flow the kids tomorrow prior to setting off through CH to AT on Saturday. We’ve four non-nhs self-tests in the van that should be good for AT entry, will double check tonight.
Elvino, your post about testing all the kids got me paranoid, so with 9 hours before I travel mucho internet's I've realised I've got another £200 quid bill,
9 year old needs a day 2
11 year old needs pre departure and day 2.
Morzine pharmacy is 40 euro for pre departure
UK day 2's I struggled to find any decent ones that didn't lead you to think it was 20 quid before then charging a lot more, in the end it's boots at £75 a pop (x4)
I swear every single company that is making money out of covid is on my banned list... 😡
39.5 degrees at 5.30 this afternoon when we went to swim in the river. Too hot to think man!
Good news, does this help you?
Hmmm. News reporting that the recent bump in cases was due to Returnees from Spain. I’m not sure that’s proven, but it looks as though it could be on the red list at the end of August.
Never seen the tunnel so quiet. Now in a hotel in Troyes for the night
Yep was super quiet all way down A26. Bit busier on A31/A6.
Definitely less GBs on the autoroute.
In Macon area and on to Massif Central then to Provence. It's a busy French weekend too.
Well, we’ve arrived in Mayrhofen. Seamless through the Swiss border near Evian (Saint Gingolf) and again into Austria at Meiningen. In fact the Swiss-Austrian border was entirely unmanned.
According to our hotelier we’re the first Brits in this year.
First Zillertal beer has sunk without trace. I’m knackered. It’s beyond a long way. Kids will be hopeless tomorrow.
Swiss motorways were full of Dutch and Germans in both directions. Between Bern and Zurich it was 80kph most of the way.
What do we make of a family taking the "head in the sand" approach, ignoring Test and Trace following a confirmed case of a contact, then not isolating, travelling to France and being dishonest on the "Sworn Declaration" that they haven't been in contact with any known cases in the previous 14 days.
I reckon that is laws broken in 2 countries, as well as Rule 1.
shop them. Idiots
Just back from France. First point,
Flexiplus is great that it gets you through check in, but is then useless when you are sent to the front of the only open border control kiosk and have to fight your way in, cue a load of agro.
French customs didn't want to see anything, not even passports.
UK customs did seem to check their on line stuff, but didn't want to see pre departure reports or those foe the day2, but assume when you upload to Eurotunnel that's all they need.
I screwed up my daughter's pre departure and both son and daughters day 2 (ended up doing both last second, see earlier post) so these wouldn't have shown, so not entirely sure how to robust this system is.
Got "free" grub in the lounge..
Recently came back by Eurostar. Papers checked at least 3 times including by an aggressive UK Borders person - haven't encountered such unpleasantness since ... oh ... the last time I went to the US.
Paradoxically MrsJ, who is one of those forriners we don't want none of (limited HGV driving abilities, no interest in fruit picking) had no hassle.
Anyone know the best way to get antigen tests while in Spain (near Bilbao)? Can I just buy them from a pharmacy?
Plan is to then drive up to Tunnel in France to get back to UK.
We decided not to go to France, but also decided not to go to Peaks either
weeksy
Full Member
We decided not to go to France, but also decided not to go to Peaks eithe
Despite the £400 extra needed for testing and the faff, I'm still glad I did the France trip. It was one of firsts for my family being in the Alps and doing something more adventurous, they've even said they don't want to go back to water parks, and can't wait to go back.. hopefully next year all this will be a thing of the past..
Also got a gov email today saying they are going to carry out a review of the "cowboy" private testing companies due to dodgy pricing!
It was the risk of our lad throwing up a + on Sunday evening that stopped us.
We're at Silverstone on Thursday this week, then at Pembrey on Fri and Sat and arguably will be in a social indoor environment a few times over the 3 nights, so if ever there's a time he may chuck in a +, this would be it.
Whilst I'm not worried from a health context for him, I assume it'd mean you can't travel and that's £1500 down the pan.
So we'll do stuff from home instead this year and have booked Adrenaline alley, 417 and bpw.
