Covid testing

Old Dec 3rd, 2021, 05:19 AM
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Covid testing

We are scheduled to go to the UK on December 29th for 2 weeks. If I understand it correctly we need to get the Covid test within 2 days of our arrival and we need to schedule the test before we depart the US. Then I think that the US is now requiring a test 24 hours before we return to the US. We are fully vaccinated and also have had the booster. We are staying in the Bloomsburg neighborhood. Does anyone have any suggestions how to have the test upon arrival as quickly and easily as possible? Then of course my other question is how to get our return test. We will likely be in the Cotswold the couple of days before.
thank you in advance.
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Old Dec 3rd, 2021, 05:34 AM
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Originally Posted by tidy
We are scheduled to go to the UK on December 29th for 2 weeks. If I understand it correctly we need to get the Covid test within 2 days of our arrival and we need to schedule the test before we depart the US. Then I think that the US is now requiring a test 24 hours before we return to the US. We are fully vaccinated and also have had the booster. We are staying in the Bloomsburg neighborhood. Does anyone have any suggestions how to have the test upon arrival as quickly and easily as possible? Then of course my other question is how to get our return test. We will likely be in the Cotswold the couple of days before.
thank you in advance.
just book your day 2 test on arrival with Expresstest. They are in T-5, T-3 forecourt, T-2 etc. book it about 2 hours after arrival ( or 35-50 mins if you are flying business/first) couldn’t be easier. I got through immigration so fast I was having my day 2 test 2 hrs early and they didn’t have a problem moving me up. I’d wait til after you are in London to book your test to return home. The rules change . . , I’ve had to change my antigen test for flying home twice.
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Old Dec 3rd, 2021, 05:43 AM
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I thought we had to book the test prior to leaving the US?? Sorry to be ignorant but what does this mean? They are in T-5, T-3 forecourt, T-2 etc.
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Old Dec 3rd, 2021, 05:48 AM
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Originally Posted by tidy
I thought we had to book the test prior to leaving the US?? Sorry to be ignorant but what does this mean? They are in T-5, T-3 forecourt, T-2 etc.
yes you need to pre book it -you need the test confirmation # to complete the PLF (passenger locator form). Just book it using express test and designate one of their LHR locations. That meant terminal 5. Terminal 3 forecourt. Terminal 2 etc
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Old Dec 3rd, 2021, 05:51 AM
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thank you, I had just figured out what T-5 meant. I will need to figure out which terminal we will be coming in.
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Old Dec 3rd, 2021, 05:56 AM
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You fill out the passenger locator form within 48 hours of arrival, so don’t book anything until you get closer to the 29th.

Expresstest is not offering 3 hour results for arrival PCR, so you have to wait until you got your results and it can take up until 10pm the day after you take the test, or in some cases 48 hours. Hopefully this will change. I read about another company in Terminsl 5, called Halo, offering saliva tests with much faster results. Cheaper, too. Unfortunately I had already booked Expresstest and am waiting in my hotel room for the results. It’s been 22 hours.

To return, they have tests you can buy in the US and bring with you, if this is still allowed at the end of the month maybe that is the easiest way to go.

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Old Dec 3rd, 2021, 06:12 AM
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To return to the US, you have to get a COVID test the day before your departure flight. It is not 24 hours, which does make things a little bit easier. So you can take the test any time the day before your departure flight. I have been following this because our daughter and her family, who live in France, are coming to the US for Christmas.
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Old Dec 3rd, 2021, 07:18 AM
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Express test does offer a 3 hr test but so far only for departing passengers. Keep an eye on announcements cuz things change all the time. I booked my day 2 test at lhr and was going to stay in my hotel all day anyway. But decided to book a rapid test after I got into town just in case. Totally unnecessary because Expresstest’s results came in at 7am the next morning so within 24 hours. But you can’t be guaranteed of that - they only promise by 10 pm the next day.
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Old Dec 3rd, 2021, 08:47 AM
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Originally Posted by KarenWoo
To return to the US, you have to get a COVID test the day before your departure flight. It is not 24 hours, which does make things a little bit easier. So you can take the test any time the day before your departure flight. I have been following this because our daughter and her family, who live in France, are coming to the US for Christmas.
Thank you KarenWoo. I fly home from Panama on Jan. 21st. Although my flight is scheduled to depart Panama City at 10:00 am, knowing this gives me perhaps an extra two hours of flexibility.
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Old Dec 3rd, 2021, 10:54 AM
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do we have to quarantine till we get the results upon arrival if we are fully vaccinated? we arrive at 8:30 in the AM and probably could be to our hotel in a couple of hours, I don't know if our room will be available. Curious as to how they know if you are in quarantine upon arrival till test results come in.
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Old Dec 3rd, 2021, 12:26 PM
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Originally Posted by tidy
do we have to quarantine till we get the results upon arrival if we are fully vaccinated? we arrive at 8:30 in the AM and probably could be to our hotel in a couple of hours, I don't know if our room will be available. Curious as to how they know if you are in quarantine upon arrival till test results come in.
at the moment, yes. But by the time you travel things could change.

You are not suppose to go out until you get the results, whether anyone would catch you if you do, is another story. When the time comes, I would try to find the fastest test available.
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Old Dec 3rd, 2021, 12:29 PM
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MinnBeef, you should check the rules when it is closer to your trip because like everything with Covid, things could change. But that is the way it stands right now with the Biden administration.
I got my information from www.forbes.com
I tried to copy and paste the link for you but for some reason I am unable to do so. But you should be able to find the article easily.

Last edited by KarenWoo; Dec 3rd, 2021 at 12:34 PM.
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Old Dec 3rd, 2021, 03:49 PM
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Originally Posted by tidy
do we have to quarantine till we get the results upon arrival if we are fully vaccinated? we arrive at 8:30 in the AM and probably could be to our hotel in a couple of hours, I don't know if our room will be available. Curious as to how they know if you are in quarantine upon arrival till test results come in.
The guidelines are quite clear that you must quarantine in the place you are staying until you get the results and if negative, you can end the quarantine

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-t...lly-vaccinated

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/self-iso...ational-travel

I have been in quarantine several times in the UK, mostly when it was day 2 & 8 testing requirement and will again after my upcoming trips. Someone from NHS Track and Trace called me every day, sometimes twice a day, to check where I am, if I am at home, do I understand the rules etc etc. I also had a visit from them at home checking up on me, asked for my ID to make sure it was me that was quarantining. I have had relatives visiting the UK who have also received phone calls to check where they are. The PLF form has your email, phone number, travel details, where you are staying.
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Old Dec 5th, 2021, 07:12 AM
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yikes
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Old Dec 5th, 2021, 07:49 AM
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well you may be a public health menace.. in some countries the army enforce you behaviour
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Old Dec 11th, 2021, 09:32 PM
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Originally Posted by bilboburgler
well you may be a public health menace.. in some countries the army enforce you behaviour
yes -the army was used in Australia to check on those isolating -well in my state of Victoria anyway
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Old Dec 11th, 2021, 10:00 PM
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Balthy: No one called me - nor texted me - nor e-mailed me. I do think it operated differently back when one was required to have the day 2 and day 8 tests, and only essential travel was allowed.
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Old Dec 12th, 2021, 01:13 AM
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New Zealand used the army to lockdown the hotels
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Old Dec 12th, 2021, 01:36 AM
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Originally Posted by janisj
Balthy: No one called me - nor texted me - nor e-mailed me. I do think it operated differently back when one was required to have the day 0-2 and day 8 tests, and only essential travel was allowed.
No one texts or emails, that is pointless for finding out where you are at that moment which is why we got calls and on one occasion, someone from Track & Trace knocked on my door. And as the situation is getting worse here, I wouldn't assume no one checks anymore.

I have travelled a few times after the essential travel restriction was lifted which was quite a while back and I am pretty sure this would happen again as some enter the UK as unvaccinated and are subject to different rules which is the day0- 2 & 8 PCR tests (not regular PCR tests, they are not the same tests) and there is a day 5 test for those who want to end their isolation earlier than 10 days, called Test to Release.

You could be right, "they" might or might not bother checking up on those who enter the UK vaccinated and only have to do day 0-2 PCR tests, I'll let you know by the end of next week if anyone contacts me when I'm due to have my own Day 0-2 tests. . But if they do not contact me, it does not mean that they do not check anymore. After some of our trips no one contacted us and other times we had calls sometimes twice a day. It varies. I was in the Caribbean late August and I would not have been there during an essential travel ban as travel insurance would not have been valid and it was mandatory for entering my destination, since then I have been to Scandinavia twice, another Caribbean trip and next week another trip to Sweden so I have to be well acquainted and up to date with the COVID rules.



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Old Dec 12th, 2021, 04:56 AM
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a couple of friends are doing the track and trace phone calls and while it was all a bit messy in the first 6 months it is a proper job now with risk analysis taking place, so if you are not tracked and called it may just be 1) they are out of capacity or 2) you have a trustworthy face... you decide

with 50,000 infections a day you can understand why you might not get a call
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