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

Cancelled my French holiday last night (due to leave this evening), managed to find a last minute cancellation in a cottage in Northumberland instead. Big concern for me was my son starting his first year of secondary school when we returned (where he doesn't know a single kid), did not want him to miss that. EDIT I can't see anything that says that kids are exempt

So UK puts France returnees on quaranteen, so France do the same.

Aren't you travelling soon? Will you be ignoring the quarantine rules?

How do you get the Fartage exemption?

Made a list of nazi stuff and found the list could be seen as getting at people. So I had some restraint.

Has France brought in quarantine now?

Seem to be threatening it, but not actually happened yet.

France’s European affairs minister, Clément Beaune, tweeted that the government regretted the British decision that “will lead to a reciprocal measure”, while adding “hoping for a return to normal as soon as possible”.

Transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari echoed these words, tweeting: “I told my counterpart Grant Shapps of our willingness to harmonise health protocols to assure a high level of protection on both sides of the channel.”

I saw that; it’s why I am debating (potentially wasting) £260 on a ticket for tonight (my current ticket is 09:30 tomorrow morning).

Well which country has the higher death rate, both in number and population percent. Which country enforced strict lockdown rules and issues big fines?

I don’t think they officially imposed one the last time either.

Thought the french imposed quite a strict travel bans and hefty fines.

So, how many cases has the UK been able to pinpoint to international travel?

I am not saying the quarantine rules are perse bad, as they have been very effective in NZ. And there a few weeks ago testing found that two women were infected with coronavirus, so there are 2 cases they could find before it could spread.

But here? So far it seems to be workplaces (slaughterhouses, meat packing, a sandwich factory recently, clothing factories, care homes, hospitals), leisure (pubs, entertainment facilities)...

Do they even know at all?

I can’t get insurance for mountain biking, I may be able to get insurance for road cycling, in France, for the next two weeks.

I really, really want to go. Should I? Or, should I go somewhere (where?!) else?

Worst case scenario I have to pay for a helicopter to take me off the mountain, best case scenario is I have a great holiday.

Personally the stress would ruin my holiday - hence why i've cancelled. You may feel differently.

Apparently Croatia is nice.

And not on the quarantine list?

Cancelled hotels in PDS, France, booked hotel in PDS, Switzerland- will drive through France on the way, which means quarantine when I get home, but in Switzerland my current travel insurance will be valid.

Well not having any airport checks, any quarantine for people entering the country. ....

Go to France and take it easy, don’t forget the European health card.

The Bavarian A3, A8 and A93 motorway services holiday returns testing had about 1,5k out of 100k positive. Most had spent their holidays east of Venice; that they can’t find numbers of them now makes it a fiasco, and cost Söder his holidays at the North Sea.

Even better, and such a modern Porsche won’t even miss the Hovercraft for the crossing.

Have any of you people had to fill in the returning to UK form? Its unbelievably shite. Has a bunch of mandatory fields that force you to input false information even if the field isnt applicable to your circunstances. For example, returning to your home in the UK after a holiday isnt an option...forced me to input a date when I was next leaving the UK and provide the address that I would be staying in after departure, even though I have no plans to leave for the foreseeable. Just had to make something up. Bafflingly inept and overly complex.

A friend of mine completed it a few days before I did and it forced him to enter the names and ages of the children he doesn't have. Had been changed by the time I did it though.

Related: https://mobile.twitter.com/David_K_Clark/status/1293523662663024641

It have some sympathy that the quarantine is not heavy handed and voluntary [voluntary as you aren't forced into a hotel right off the place], it is difficult to sell here and difficult the way the UK works with so much travel.

And then you also need to start testing at the UK border in Ireland and...

But not even randomized tests at airports or anything...yet there are a lot of people with the "close the booooooooorderrrrrrrrs" chat and while intuitively it sounds good, as you say...what checks?

What data?

Apparently no quarantine as long as:

If you have a holiday in a country which is exempt from UK quarantine rules and don’t make any stops in France on your drive back, you are not required to self-isolate on your return to the UK. However, you must make sure no new people get into your vehicle.

The countries which share a border with France and are currently exempt from quarantine rules are Germany, Italy and Switzerland.

Not sure you have a big enough fuel tank for that?

I’m going to make the assumption that paying for fuel with a credit card at the pump with no one else around count as not stopping.

However, I suspect that at some point we’ll need to use the lavatory, which will score us a two week isolation unless it’s totally human free.

Stop, yes. Get out of the car, not necessarily.