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Post by stonerose on Sept 2, 2020 8:02:57 GMT
What our media have failed to report is that the spike in Portugal is mainly down to a football team in Loule a small Algarve town that has had 33 confirmed Covid cases of players and staff members from the club all of which should now be isolating.
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Post by timberwolf on Sept 2, 2020 8:08:20 GMT
just wonder if we are getting visitors from abroad in any numbers like the tears before. if they do and have visited parts of the north west and west yorkshire when the new measures came into force a few weeks ago will they have to quarenteen on arriving back home.
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Post by m14hatter on Sept 2, 2020 8:18:27 GMT
We were supposed to be going to Seville on Friday but that’s obviously a no go, so we booked a last min deal to Turkey at weekend.
We looked at UK holidays but the prices were scandalous for even bog standard accom in N Wales, Scotland and Northumberland. At least with Turkey we’re guaranteed better weather.
Rate of infection in Turkey is lower than here, so for me I just think it’s a no brainer.
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Post by timberwolf on Sept 2, 2020 9:03:53 GMT
Rate of infection in Turkey is lower than here, so for me I just think it’s a no brainer. but thats the problem. halfway through your holiday it may be deemed not to be so. the situation does not bother me personally as i do not go abroad, but i do feel sorry for those that do. its become a nightmare not of their doing.
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Post by vicar on Sept 2, 2020 10:03:06 GMT
Rate of infection in Turkey is lower than here, so for me I just think it’s a no brainer. but thats the problem. halfway through your holiday it may be deemed not to be so. the situation does not bother me personally as i do not go abroad, but i do feel sorry for those that do. its become a nightmare not of their doing. It would be fairer to say anyone going out now would be quarantined on return, the current situation is unfair to those who have followed the rules and traveled to "safe" countries
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Post by m14hatter on Sept 2, 2020 10:14:50 GMT
Rate of infection in Turkey is lower than here, so for me I just think it’s a no brainer. but thats the problem. halfway through your holiday it may be deemed not to be so. the situation does not bother me personally as i do not go abroad, but i do feel sorry for those that do. its become a nightmare not of their doing. Everyone knows the risks when they travel, it’s one of the only things the govt has been clear on. We’re fully aware of it and thankfully both my partner and I work from home, so it’s not an issue If the worst does happen.
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Post by timberwolf on Sept 2, 2020 10:45:18 GMT
but thats the problem. halfway through your holiday it may be deemed not to be so. the situation does not bother me personally as i do not go abroad, but i do feel sorry for those that do. its become a nightmare not of their doing. Everyone knows the risks when they travel, it’s one of the only things the govt has been clear on. We’re fully aware of it and thankfully both my partner and I work from home, so it’s not an issue If the worst does happen. so just go the whole way and ban all unecessary foreign journeys to everywhere then. at least people know they cannot travel. fine one week and not the next when you have gone is no answer. trying to keep one part of the economy afloat and then panic at the first opportunity is of no help either for the industry or holiday makers.
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Post by m14hatter on Sept 2, 2020 11:13:33 GMT
Everyone knows the risks when they travel, it’s one of the only things the govt has been clear on. We’re fully aware of it and thankfully both my partner and I work from home, so it’s not an issue If the worst does happen. so just go the whole way and ban all unecessary foreign journeys to everywhere then. at least people know they cannot travel. fine one week and not the next when you have gone is no answer. trying to keep one part of the economy afloat and then panic at the first opportunity is of no help either for the industry or holiday makers. Politically they can’t do that. They need to look at proper testing and tracing at airports and fast turnaround tests to allow people to move about. The problem is it will cost a fortune and who’s liable - the ports/ airports, passengers or govt...?
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Post by geordiehatter on Sept 2, 2020 16:22:16 GMT
so just go the whole way and ban all unecessary foreign journeys to everywhere then. at least people know they cannot travel. fine one week and not the next when you have gone is no answer. trying to keep one part of the economy afloat and then panic at the first opportunity is of no help either for the industry or holiday makers. Politically they can’t do that. They need to look at proper testing and tracing at airports and fast turnaround tests to allow people to move about. The problem is it will cost a fortune and who’s liable - the ports/ airports, passengers or govt...? I don't know if I'd be so quick to say a ban on unnecessary foreign travel was politically impossible, if the benefits in terms of disease spread could be articulated. After all, and to the evident surprise of the politicians, it has been proved politically achievable to shut down entire economies and enforce populations to stay indoors for the best part of three months and never mind the longer term consequences. By comparison to which, the effects of stopping holiday travel to the sun for a while? Negligible surely. Also, I hear the arguments of 'well I've looked into it and the rate is lower in X place than it is here, so I figure it's OK to go'. Well that is sort of my point. That is presumably how the virus spreads, by people going from higher infected areas to lower ones. so it's not just about a calculation of one's own personal risk. Sorry if I'm coming across as s bit holier-than-thou or whatever here, I do appreciate there are all kinds of possible grey areas and people have different circumstances etc..also eg I'm about to get on a train and go to deepest Lancashire on Saturday for a friendly football game which some would not agree with I'm sure. But...pretty much unfettered global travel in the midst of a global pandemic? I'm still not convinced.
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Post by HTC on Sept 2, 2020 17:47:26 GMT
It’s nothing like unfettered.
Half the worlds borders are completely closed, including places that heavily depend on tourism revenue like Thailand and Sri Lanka. From the UK, the only mainstream holiday destinations the FCO say are safe to visit are Italy, Greece, Turkey and Portugal. From Friday, the chances are it’ll be down to two or three destinations.
People generally don’t want to travel anyway - this time of year, my phone would normally be in constant use as I get feedback from people who have been away in August, and have people looking to get away at Christmas, and be struggling for reasonably priced availability to Thailand / St Lucia. This year, I’m furloughed to a 3 day week, and my main job is rebooking people who cancelled their trips originally booked for March, who initially rebooked to October, and now need to rebook again.
If there was a time for a complete travel ban, it was in March when borders were closed all over the world. It’s far too late now as Covid is now endemic in the U.K. anyway.
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Post by HTC on Sept 7, 2020 16:29:29 GMT
And the government try a new strategy.
They've introduced partial quarantines, only affecting certain Greek islands. I guess the logic is the strategy will work better here than for Spain as Greek tourism is more geared around package holidays with a more limited number of flights.
Zakynthos is very much a cheap package island, and pretty much everyone comes in via one airport, so easy just to stop flights to the airport there. A similar story with Crete/Lesvos, albeit a wider range of tourism, varying from cheap packages to Malia to high end villas / hotels in places like Chania / Elounda, but neither places that tend to be reached on anything other than direct flights to the island
The interesting part is how the practicalities work with the four Cyclades. Santorini / Mykonos are the main air hubs for the whole region, and based around upmarket hotels and villas. However, Serifos and Tinos are both very quiet islands usually reached by ferry from Mykonos/Athens (meaning there is pretty much no way to tell if someone has been there). I guess they are figuring the number of British tourists on both islands are so low, and the older Grecophiles typically found on those two islands are the people likely to either comply with quarantine and/or jump on ferries to Sifnos/Milos tomorrow, giving a rather different risk profile to the teenagers coming back from Zakynthos.
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Post by vicar on Sept 7, 2020 21:00:23 GMT
but thats the problem. halfway through your holiday it may be deemed not to be so. the situation does not bother me personally as i do not go abroad, but i do feel sorry for those that do. its become a nightmare not of their doing. Everyone knows the risks when they travel, it’s one of the only things the govt has been clear on. We’re fully aware of it and thankfully both my partner and I work from home, so it’s not an issue If the worst does happen. They haven't been clear, they say you can go so you book a holiday and while you're there they introduce quarantine.
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Post by CB1883 on Sept 7, 2020 21:16:40 GMT
Everyone knows the risks when they travel, it’s one of the only things the govt has been clear on. We’re fully aware of it and thankfully both my partner and I work from home, so it’s not an issue If the worst does happen. They haven't been clear, they say you can go so you book a holiday and while you're there they introduce quarantine. People are booking knowing the potential for change though aren’t they. If we can impose local lockdowns and take backwards steps in that regard then it’s naive to think that any spikes overseas aren’t going to face the same response. Personally I’ve knocked the idea of an overseas holiday on the head this year. Looks like holiday companies are trying to cash in on the demand of 2021 too by the prices I’m seeing already. Last minute holiday next year for CB & co.
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Post by vicar on Sept 7, 2020 21:19:29 GMT
They haven't been clear, they say you can go so you book a holiday and while you're there they introduce quarantine. People are booking knowing the potential for change though aren’t they. If we can impose local lockdowns and take backwards steps in that regard then it’s naive to think that any spikes overseas aren’t going to face the same response. Personally I’ve knocked the idea of an overseas holiday on the head this year. Looks like holiday companies are trying to cash in on the demand of 2021 too by the prices I’m seeing already. Last minute holiday next year for CB & co. People booking are doing so according to the rules at the time, changing those rules while they're away is plain wrong.
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Post by CB1883 on Sept 7, 2020 21:24:08 GMT
People are booking knowing the potential for change though aren’t they. If we can impose local lockdowns and take backwards steps in that regard then it’s naive to think that any spikes overseas aren’t going to face the same response. Personally I’ve knocked the idea of an overseas holiday on the head this year. Looks like holiday companies are trying to cash in on the demand of 2021 too by the prices I’m seeing already. Last minute holiday next year for CB & co. People booking are doing so according to the rules at the time, changing those rules while they're away is plain wrong. For those who have pre-booked way in advance and have now had a big spanner thrown in the works, I have sympathy. For those who have booked last minute without taking in to account the likeliness of things reversing or changing, I have no sympathy.
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