I’m clearly rather off the pace when it comes to Covid testing in the UK, but having just looked into getting my mum over from UK to DK in May (before the 3rd wave strikes I don’t see her for another year) I’ve realised what an absolute shitshow the PCR testing system is
We (DK) have just relaxed our “24-hour old neg test” entry requirement to 48 hours, which is a good thing, as nobody - as far as i can see - offers anything faster than 24 hour turnaround on a PCR test.
Besides which, it would appear that to get a PCR test one has to cough up north of a ton. Or, more accurately, make a donation to the Tory party via Hatt Mancock’s chums
I note with mirth that the government will “look into” how it can get their mates with the contracts for PCR to reduce their prices, but I’m obviously not holding my breath.
Three questions then:
is there any of the above that I’ve got wrong, or I should expect to change in the near future? i really want to see my Mum soon
Are you all expecting to have to pony up a small fortune for (unless I’m mistaken) 3 tests per person for overseas travel (one for exit, two upon return, at least until Vax-Passport is in place)
I appreciate that tÍ really shouldn’t be surprised what the current bunch of shysters have put in place, but after having long since gone full Scandi native (free testing, fast turnaround) I’m rather taken aback by what a shit system it seems to be - am I missing something ??
Addendum: in the interests of transparency, I should point out that if any of you Third-Country motherfuckers come to DK you’ll have to pony up £185 for a PCR test, though you could always try paying with some of all that sovereignty you’ve now got
I work in an industry where PCR testing is mandatory and 24 to 48 hr turnaround is about the norm and it takes a serious amount of close up management to make that system work.
The UK policy is to use lateral flow, with PCR only used if lateral flow is positive. Unfortunately, yet predictably, lateral flow is giving a large number of false positives.
I didn’t / don’t expect health and social care in the UK to be comparable with here - you get what you pay for.
I was more taken aback by how poorly organised and expensive it seems: this isn’t standard health and social care, it’s an unavoidable ingredient to getting the economy back on track.
It’s not as if anyone told them this in advance. I do hope we don’t follow in the footsteps of Chile, they lost the plot during their vaccination roll out, not good news.
I suspect that the government doesn’t place it that centrally. Standard health care is rated as absolutely critical - if A&E depts end up barring their doors to ambulances, and people diagnosed with cancer die because of treatment delays, the voters are going to react badly in very large numbers. If business people have to Zoom their meetings rather than have them face-to-face then, well, it’s unsatisfactory but we won’t need to deploy the military to deal with howling mobs in the streets. As in your case it also has a very painful impact on separated families. That’s different from the economy though. And they’ll have counted the votes and realised that they don’t add up to much .
Come to think about it, given that they really don’t want people to travel, maybe making the process such an expensive arse to navigate is part of the plan.
This. I would imagine that travel will be somewhat less hassle once the guidelines are released in May. We will give it a miss this year whatever happens.
About 12 of us had a golf trip planned for France in May 2020, this got cancelled, re booked for Sept 2020 cancelled, rebooked for May 21 cancelled, and is now rebooked for Sept 21.
We have now decided to go on a golf trip in the UK in September. We will all lose £50 deposit on the trip but compared to the uncertainty of France being open and the likely costs of PCR tests (both ways) we have decided to cut our losses.
Why is it deranged for someone who has had 2 vaccinations to travel to a country with one of the lowest R rates in EU, which has began opening up this week (lets see how that goes though)
So the vaccination you have will protect you against any new strains? That’s nice.
Also I’d rather spend my money on British holiday destinations for the next few years. Given the shit show that is brexit and the lockdown debacle, UK holiday destinations will be hurting and it’d be sad to see more decimation in this area.
If you HAVE to fly off to foreign climes for a vacation (business and family visits I can understand) then you do you but I personally think it’s a bit premature. Especially when it’s looking like the uk is going to have a marvellous summer.
We had flights booked for Canada for a month after lockdown started. They were cancelled and we are dying to get back there again but it’ll be a few years yet just to let things get properly back to normal.
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