skydriller wrote:
No governments’ travel rules have ever made sense any more than the multitude of other Covid rules in general.
Initially there was a chance but it was blown even in Spring 2020 when most countries caved in to the whining of their travel industries. The only ones where it really worked until recently was NZ, China, Taiwan and Australia. Obviously in Australia, it’s out of the window now, the Chinese also get overrun by Omrikon and I am not sure what is happening in Taiwan and NZ. China might as well stop altogether with the Olympics coming.
You mean the ones where there was no travel then… that isnt rules for travelling though, is it!!
Well, during the 1st wave travel was pretty much shut down for a few weeks, it was opened up in Summer 2020 with predictable results. Had travel been suspended earlier and more selectively, e.g the moment Covid became known in China and Italy, I’d still think there would have been a chance to stop world wide distribution of that plague. Also if they had kept travel and other restrictions until complete eradication (zero infections over a 2-3 weeks) and then open up only to similar places, I guess the 2nd and 3rd waves would not have happened or at least figures could have been kept very low until vaccines were available.
There was zero chance of stopping it.
Agreed, absolutely zero.
You only need a single case to enter a country and then it spreads like wildfire. Zero-covid fantasies are for the especially hard-of-thinking, and unfortunately a few governments actually tried it.
I was talking to my team member in Australia this morning, and in New South Wales they have gone from a situation where 35 cases meant a hard lockdown to a situation where 35,000 cases means business as usual. Their government is going to have a serious credibility problem come the next election.
alioth wrote:
Which is bizarre since their case numbers are pretty much double the UK.
Macron is thinking only of the election.
He’s obviously decided that a “screw the Brits” approach will play well. He’d won over the coastal communities (and those who align themselves on such issues) with his hard line over fishing, but he had to drop that when the truth came out. So an excuse to get tough with us again is welcome.
Some friends of mine have booked skiing in La Plagne for the first week in March. They evidently think things will have changed by then – I’m not so sure – I think Macron will stay tough on the UK until the election.
I was talking to my team member in Australia this morning, and in New South Wales they have gone from a situation where 35 cases meant a hard lockdown to a situation where 35,000 cases means business as usual. Their government is going to have a serious credibility problem come the next election.
There’s some logic in that: you can potentially squash small numbers of cases through contact tracing, but at 35k the horse has bolted.
Omicron is very different from the earlier variants. Over the weekend Omicron reached us and cases are popping up all over the place. Nobody is significantly unwell so far, though it’s early days.
It appears France is opening to UK fully vaxxed again, as long as you get a -ve PCR before travelling:
Good news for those that like to hurtle down a mountain and break limbs.. 
Good news for a day trip to Le Touquet, finally 
Well, the €30 LFAT landing fee is €30+£70, so chances of a fly-in there are zero… but it is progress
Does anyone have recent experience of flying from the UK to Belgium?
I was hoping to fly to EBOS next week and stay for one night, and am trying to understand the requirements for entry, but the requirements aren’t entirely clear to me.
From their FAQ:
Non-essential travel to Belgium is prohibited for people who are not a national of the EU, nor of a country that is part of the Schengen Area, and who have their primary residence in a third country not listed in Annex I to Council Recommendation (EU) 2020/912 of 30 June 2020 on the temporary restriction of non-essential travel to the EU and its possible lifting, except for travellers with a vaccination certificate, as well as for young people up to the age of 17 travelling with a supervisor who has a vaccination certificate.
…which I take to mean that as a fully vaccinated traveler with a certificate, I should be allowed to travel to Belgium.
Again, from their FAQ:
People returning from third countries or countries in the EU and the Schengen Area classified as red zones, who have been abroad for more than 48 hours and who will stay in Belgium for more than 48 hours, are considered “high-risk contacts”. This means that they must quarantine.
A. Upon return from a red zone or a third country classified as a red zone
For people who have their main residence in Belgium: upon arrival
if fully vaccinated: PCR test on day 1 and quarantine until you receive a negative result and a further PCR test on day 7,
if not fully vaccinated: 10-day quarantine + PCR test on day 1 and day 7. Quarantine may possibly end after 7 days (quarantine/testing exemptions: see table below, point 8).
That’s pretty wordy and not very clear, but I think because I will be staying for less than 48 hours, even though I’m arriving from a red list country, I will not need to quarantine.
a negative Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) was carried out in an official laboratory not more than 72 hours prior to arrival on Belgian territory, or a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) with a negative result carried out no more than 36 hours before arrival on Belgian territory by a professional
From what I can make out:
The “official laboratory” and “by a professional” suggests that I can’t use the standard DIY Randox/Chronomics tests, or am I reading too much in to that?
Would love to hear from anyone with recent experience of this, or who understands the rules in Belgium really well. Thanks!
