4am Tuesday is the start time for PCR tests and compulsory isolation

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• Nick says:

  28 Nov28 November 15:42

  Anyone know of day 2 PCR test at Heathrow or in London that gives same day results? Expresstest only offer the 3hr turn-around for ‘Fit-to-Fly’ with no code for PLF

  • Rob says:

    28 Nov28 November 16:00

    Give ExpressTest time – the first they heard about this was 5pm yesterday.

    • Nick says:

      28 Nov28 November 18:05

      Many thanks Rob – fingers crossed!

  • Rob says:

    28 Nov28 November 17:13

    Give them time …

    • Polly says:

      29 Nov29 November 17:21

      Yes, relying on them to come up trumps if we decide to do the 3 hr PCR on arrival

• G says:

  28 Nov28 November 16:26

  I’m really struggling on the clarity of one thing…the PCR test can be done as late as day 2. So if I have guests visiting the U.K. for say 5 days, they can freely roam around on day 0, day 1 and day 2 up until they do the test? And then they self isolate while awaiting the result on day 2. But up until that point they do not have to isolate? It doesn’t seem to make any sense if the idea is to stop virus spread but this sounds like it is how it works.

  • Scott says:

    28 Nov28 November 16:31

    You’re supposed to self isolate after you enter the UK, and until a negative result.
    If you enter Tues, you isolate.
    If you take the test on Thurs, you are expected to still be isolating from Tuesday until the result comes through, which could be late Friday.

    Whether anyone will check beyond a phonecall, no idea.

    • Andy says:

      28 Nov28 November 16:48

      When we arrived back from Portugal in the summer we had 2 visits. The first one was from the guy who delivered our Morrisons order the day before

    • Roy says:

      28 Nov28 November 19:19

      I really don’t understand why they insist on calling it a day 2 test, when you’d be crazy to take it on day 2 rather than day 1 (or day 0 if logistics allow) since delaying means unnecessarily prolonging your self-isolation.

      • Paul Pogba says:

        28 Nov28 November 21:25

        I assume it’s meant to be undertaken on Day 2 (and not Day 0 or 1) so as to allow the viral load to build up to sufficient levels to be detected. If you do it on Day 0 you may as well not bother.

        • TGLoyalty says:

          28 Nov28 November 21:44

          No it’s just before day 2.

        • Roy says:

          28 Nov28 November 21:48

          Maybe that was the original intention at some point in the distant past, but that’s not how it’s worked in the recent past, not how it will work from Tuesday (as far as we understand at the moment).

          You have to take it some time between arrival and the end of day 2.

      • Paul Pogba says:

        28 Nov28 November 21:36

        I’m wrong – it says “on or before day 2” apologies.

  • Can says:

    28 Nov28 November 16:39

    No you self isolate until you get a negative result. It is then in your best interest to take the test asap

  • TGLoyalty says:

    28 Nov28 November 16:53

    Doesn’t make any sense because you completely mis read the rules

    Enter the U.K. and self isolate at all times until you get your result. Not just between taking the test and getting a result.

  • Mike says:

    28 Nov28 November 21:35

    G – nope your guests must self isolate from arrival to results of the test !! And if they are your guests they must self isolate from you

• ADR says:

  28 Nov28 November 16:50

  Appreciate this comment is not entirely relevant to this feed but Switzerland has just announced 10-day quarantine from UK (in addition to having a negative test / vaccination cert) Hopefully rescinded by February so I can hit the slopes.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    28 Nov28 November 16:54

    They’ve announced a complete ban for non Swiss residents/citizens from U.K.

  • GeorgeJ says:

    28 Nov28 November 16:55

    That now only applies to Swiss nationals. If you are British you cannot enter Switzerland at all.

    • ADR says:

      28 Nov28 November 17:05

      Thanks, I misread. It looks like a week at the Sandown Park dry slope then.

      • GeorgeJ says:

        28 Nov28 November 18:52

        Yes, though I am still hopeful that Austria will let me in. No doubt we will have multiple permutations of restrictions by the New Year.

  • Anna says:

    28 Nov28 November 18:41

    Yet they’re still allowing Belgians and Austrians who have also detected cases?!

    • Anna says:

      28 Nov28 November 18:49

      Looks like they’ve banned all non-Swiss nationals/residents, not just UK ones.
      Back in the UK, Nicola Sturgeon puts the English on notice of being banned from Scotland again 🤦‍♀️

• ee says:

  28 Nov28 November 16:59

  Any experience of Randox Golden Drop Boxes for PCRs? On the face of it it looks like you can click and collect the tests for £35 and if dropped at the Golden box by 1pm results by 9am the next day.

  • JeffJ says:

    28 Nov28 November 18:45

    Used once. Randox service was quick and efficient.

    • ee says:

      28 Nov28 November 22:54

      Thanks we’ve booked it as availability for Heathrow and other central London collection points seems to have evaporated and lakeside is workable for us with the gold box at grays.

  • Emma says:

    28 Nov28 November 21:19

    This is my plan for a USA trip in the next few weeks. Click & Collect test for £35, land in the UK at 9.15am on a Thursday, Randox golden drop box 20 mins from Heathrow, hopefully all clear by 9am Friday!
    I may be in the minority, but have only ever had good experiences with Randox over the past year including 6 PCR test results returned by midday the day after drop off (standard drop box). .

    • Paul Pogba says:

      28 Nov28 November 21:28

      If you land on Thursday you can’t take the test until Saturday (Day 2) so as to allow an incubation period. The virus needs to have built up in your body after exposure for the test to be able to detect anything.

    • Paul Pogba says:

      28 Nov28 November 21:36

      I’m wrong – it says “on or before day 2” apologies.

    • Marie says:

      29 Nov29 November 07:15

      Ditto

    • Polly says:

      29 Nov29 November 16:24

      We are planning the exact same for our Thursday arrival Dec 9th in T5.

  • David Bentley says:

    29 Nov29 November 21:31

    If you take your PCR test… is it ok to take the test to the drop box yourself. My nearest one is in a chemist 15 miles away. I’m travelling 11th-18th December

• JeffJ says:

  28 Nov28 November 18:44

  My experience with Collinson customer services was horrific. Utterly hopeless. Even worse than chronomics. If you want a refund be prepared to put in lots of time and effort.

• Anna says:

  28 Nov28 November 19:20

  And I’m back to formulating Plan B’s! Got 3 nights in Edinburgh then 1 in Durham after Xmas, but going to book a back up in the NE in case Ms Sturgeon can’t resist wielding power over the English again. Choices on IHG points are Staybridge Suites or CP in Newcastle – is one better than the other? Stayed at the Indigo previously and didn’t like the location that much TBH.

  • David says:

    28 Nov28 November 20:04

    I’d say the location of the CP in Newcastle is better than Staybridge, which is quite a long way out of the centre surrounded by student accommodation blocks. When i have stayed at the CP Spire recognition hasn’t been great

• Tom says:

  28 Nov28 November 20:09

  Quarantine upon arrival is essentially a travel ban for all practical purposes. Twice vaxxed and boosted — cancelling my mid-Dec UK holiday. Stuck with a non-refundable Eurostar ticket 🤨

  • Rob says:

    28 Nov28 November 21:00

    Why does taking a test at Heathrow, with the result in 3 hours, constitute a ban? By the time you’ve unpacked you’ll have the result.

    • Steve says:

      28 Nov28 November 21:01

      Heathrow isn’t so convenient if you’re taking the Eurostar (as the comment suggests?). Indeed I’m keen to find somewhere with ~ 3 hour turnaround coming back on the Eurostar on Sunday evening – so far I don’t see anything close to this.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        28 Nov28 November 21:47

        Collinson do tests at St Pancreas. Unfortunately it’s probably more like 18 hrs but still not the end of the world. Though they got told about this the same time as us so give them a couple days for them to get their head round it and propose some expedited products.

    • Mart says:

      28 Nov28 November 21:44

      Link to the 3 hour day 2 Heathrow pcr test Rob?

      • Andrew says:

        28 Nov28 November 22:16

        Currently only for departures, but I’m sure they will begin offering for arrivals too.

      • Polly says:

        29 Nov29 November 16:27

        Am sure as soon as they announce it, Rob will let us know, or someone fast on the button here will. We hope we can use it as a 1st choice option in T5 on arrival.

    • Track says:

      29 Nov29 November 04:48

      Rob, any country with a mandatory test on arrival is not convenient for a holidaymaker/business/short-term visitor.

      In case of a positive test, they are stuck and hotel prices in London are astronomical for the most. If you are at home that’s fine, if you are at friend’s you are putting them at risk and loss of income.

      UK is actually sensible in that regard that you can break isolation to travel out. (But can you break quarantine though and would you with a positive PCR test on hands?)

      For PCR to become negative again, anything from 10 days to 4 weeks is reasonably needed (reasonable area under the probability curve for most people).

      • Rob says:

        29 Nov29 November 08:27

        We went to Barbados with mandatory test on arrival.

    • Steve says:

      29 Nov29 November 11:25

      Good luck getting an appointment corresponding to your arrival time. Most of the Heathrow test centres also close at 7 – before my flight from Maldives arrives tomorrow.

      Frankly it’s a joke

• Fred says:

  28 Nov28 November 22:15

  After some advice please. Currently in Mumbai and land into London a week today i.e. Sunday. Family and I then flying to New York on Tuesday evening. Am I right in saying unless my negative PCR comes back before Tuesday I won’t be allowed to travel because technically have to self isolate??

  • TGLoyalty says:

    29 Nov29 November 02:54

    No it’s been covered a few times.

    Normally onward travel is a permitted reason to leave this type of isolation (obviously not if someone had tested positive and you were self isolating as close contacts etc)

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