Chat about Novel Coronavirus - 2019-nCoV - COVID-19

Christ the rules for tests are a bit byzantine aren't they?

Yes.

For a quick business trip to Italy arriving Tues and leaving Weds night I need PCR/antigen test within 48hrs of leaving. If I do that on Sunday it should still be valid for the return trip as that needs to be 3 days before arrival. Then need a day 2 test.

Yes, although I believe that the reference to '3 days' in the guidance actually means 72 hours, so you'd have to do the test on Sunday after the time when you'd be returning on the Wednesday in order for it to be valid for the return journey. Or do it on Monday.

Plus the locator forms out and back.

Yep. Have fun with those. Doing the UK one really boiled my piss. You have to fill in your passport number, and then they ask when it expires, despite the fact that the government department receiving the form is the same department which issued the fucking passport in the first place, so they really ought to know.

Having got back from Italy on Sunday, my other top tips would be:

1. You'll need a surgical/FFP2/FFP3 mask, certainly on the flight back, not a fabric mask. I ended up giving away my 5 spares to other passengers who only had fabric masks and who were being denied boarding as a result.
   
2. Leave a looooooong time to check in and board. I started checking in at 4am on Sunday morning, and I only just made my 6am flight. There's a lot of fuckwits out there, and the check-in and departure gate staff and having to spend a lot of time explaining and enforcing the rules.
   
3. For my trip to Mallorca and the Italy trip I've used Medicspot for my Covid tests - all 5 of them. No links to them, just a customer, but while they're far from the cheapest they've been reliable and quick so far. The pre-departure test and the pre-return-to-the-UK tests were done with a lateral flow test which you register and photograph, and they send you a certificate. Seems to work well.
   
4. Take a copy of your NHS vaccination certificate with you. It seems that the Italian Green Pass app is working with the NHS certificates and QR codes now.