*BREAKING NEWS* France to move off amber plus - other countries to green

[EuroTrotters]

Here

 

[Itsmcb]

 

[EuroTrotters]

I give in now.

Talk about confusion and messing travellers around. It now states.

"However, travellers arriving in the UK from Spain are now advised to take a PCR test - rather than the cheaper lateral flow tests - for the mandatory pre-departure test as a "precaution against the increased prevalence of the virus and variants in the country"."

But I'm not giving up

 

[Lenny HB]

Fingers crossed France will be green by September.

 

[2657]

I give in now.

Talk about confusion and messing travellers around. It now states.

"However, travellers arriving in the UK from Spain are now advised to take a PCR test - rather than the cheaper lateral flow tests - for the mandatory pre-departure test as a "precaution against the increased prevalence of the virus and variants in the country"."

But I'm not giving up

I wonder what 'advised' means

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[haganap]

boom, just in time for my next weeks trip....

 

[lorger]

Still need the Netherlands to allow U.K. residents in as our ferry on 3rd September docks at Rotterdam, fingers crossed.

 

[EuroTrotters]

I wonder what 'advised' means

Exactly

 

[Landy Andy]

Cock. Bloody knew it. Shortened our holiday so we could quarantine at home and be at work Monday paying for the 5 day test. Also got buggered on the way out doing test to go, when they then dropped that the day we went. It’s a joke system to take money.

 

[Clipgate]

In my view it's all about exercising control, cause enough confusion and alarm then grant a little freedom. Then no-one will see the liberties we once had are gone for ever
A bit like the nut under three cups, watch where it goes.
The only mess is contrived confusion

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[EuroTrotters]

In my view it's all about exercising control, cause enough confusion and alarm then grant a little freedom. Then no-one will see the liberties we once had are gone for ever
A bit like the nut under three cups, watch where it goes.
The only mess is contrived confusion

Never been anything but for me.

I have never said the virus is not real.

But I have always taken your view.

Soft dictatorship, for now.

 

[Garfields]

Still need the Netherlands to allow U.K. residents in as our ferry on 3rd September docks at Rotterdam, fingers crossed.

I have gave up on abroad 2021 and changed my ferry booking (Newcastle ) to 2022
Partly due the covid stuff rumbling on and also where we were likely to head got affected by the flooding
Only plus is the crossing is ££ cheaper for 22

 

[glenn2926]

advised

Being the operative word.

 

[Top Hat]

I wonder what 'advised' means

It means the same as traveling to Amber country's is not advised but it is not a legal requirement. You make your own mind up what you do/have​

​

Holidays to France are back on as Boris Johnson removes it from ‘amber plus’ list​

Double jabbed travellers will no longer need to quarantine on return as rules are eased, with two further countries taken off red list

ByCharles Hymas, HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR and Ben Riley-Smith, POLITICAL EDITOR4 August 2021 • 10:00pm

Summer holidays to France are back on, as Boris Johnson said Britons “yearn to go abroad this year”.
In a significant reopening of foreign travel from this weekend, France is to be removed from the “amber plus” list, ending the requirement for fully jabbed holidaymakers to quarantine on their return to England.
Seven countries, including Germany, Austria and Slovenia, will be added to the green list, while India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which includes Dubai, will become two of the first countries to be removed from the red list, opening them up to quarantine-free travel for Britons who have had both doses of the vaccine.
Speaking on a visit to Scotland on Wednesday, the Prime Minister said: “I know how important holidays are to people. People think about them, they save up for them, people yearn to go abroad this year. I totally get that.”
The opening of France is expected to spark a surge in bookings for the rest of August, a month when, pre-pandemic, more than four million Britons normally holidayed in the country.
The changes come into effect at 4am on Sunday, and government sources indicated that anyone who arrived back in the UK from France before that date would still have to complete a full 10 days of quarantine.
The reopening announcement was tempered by new advice for holidaymakers in Spain to take costly PCR tests before coming home, although this will not be a legal requirement.
There will also be a 30 per cent increase in the cost of hotel quarantine for red list travellers from £1,750 to £2,285 per adult.

'Positive direction'​

Henry Smith, Conservative chairman of the Future of Aviation all party group, said the Government was moving in a “positive direction”, although he would have preferred ministers to be more ambitious and urged them to consider ditching expensive PCR tests for green and amber arrivals.
Travel and aviation chiefs also criticised the “limited” expansion of the green list and ongoing “sky-high” cost of tests, which they said were deterring families from taking foreign holidays.

Tim Alderslade, of Airlines UK, said: “Alongside the continuation of expensive testing and a much smaller-than-hoped-for expansion of the green list, this is yet another blow to the sector and families desperate to get away, and means the UK continues to open up far slower than the rest of Europe.”
Karen Dee, of the Airport Operators’ Association, said: “Any extension to the green list is welcome, but we remain a long way off a full and meaningful restart of international travel.”
John Holland-Kaye, the chief executive of Heathrow, said: “While these changes are welcome, travel will remain unaffordable for many hard-working Brits until the Government replaces expensive PCR tests with the cheaper lateral flow tests that are used for NHS workers.”

The lifting of quarantine for travel to France follows a fall in beta variant cases in the country to just 0.8 per cent of all infections, and after a diplomatic row with Paris over the alleged influence of cases arising in the French island of La Reunion, 6,000 miles away from the mainland, on the decision to add further travel restrictions.
Tensions were further inflamed by the fact that while France was placed in the amber plus category, La Reunion remained amber.
However, under the new traffic light list announced on Wednesday, the island is now moved to red, forcing anyone returning from it into hotel quarantine.

End of the amber plus category​

The return of France to the amber list marks the demise of the so-called amber plus category, which required even fully jabbed holidaymakers to quarantine on their return to the UK.

After a huge backlash by Tory MPs and the travel industry, the Government also confirmed earlier this week that it had ditched plans for an “amber watchlist", which would have identified countries deemed at risk of imminently turning red. Spain was reportedly earmarked for that category.

Instead, the Department for Transport said arrivals from Spain and its islands should use a PCR test before departure “wherever possible as a precaution against the increased prevalence of the virus and variants”.
It said scientists from the two countries would remain in close contact to keep abreast of any rise in cases.
Slovakia, Latvia, Romania and Norway are being added to the Government’s green list, which allows unvaccinated holidaymakers to travel to them without having to self-isolate on their return.
It means there are now 36 “green” countries, but 16 of them including Croatia, Bermuda and Barbados remain on a “green watch list", which means they are at risk of turning amber, despite calls by Tory MPs and the travel industry to streamline the traffic light system into three, if not two categories.
The removal of India and UAE as well as Bahrain and Qatar from the red list to amber will spark a surge in bookings as families seek to reunite. There are an estimated 1.5 million Indians in Britain, and some 150,000 expat Britons in the UAE.
However, rising infection rates and the risk from variants mean Mexico, Georgia and Mayotte will be added to the red list alongside La Reunion.
Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, said: "While we must continue to be cautious, the changes reopen a range of different holiday destinations across the globe, which is good news for both the sector and travelling public."
Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, said: "As well as moving more countries to the green list, the announcement also demonstrates the need for continued caution.”
Related Topics

• Self-isolation,
• Vaccination,
• Boris Johnson,
• Grant Shapps

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[Neil S]

Am I correct in thinking that even if your returning from a Green list country and are double jabbed you still have to take a test before departure back to the U.K. as well as fill in online a PLF and book a day 2 test.
If so we haven’t really gained much and we’re still having to jump through hoops just to go on holiday

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[Landy Andy]

 

[Neil S]

View attachment 524039

No difference to returning from say Spain being on the amber list
Still the same rigmarole

 

[busby]

Two weeks to late for us,,came out of quarantine on Sunday last.BUSBY.

 

[EuroTrotters]

Two weeks to late for us,,came out of quarantine on Sunday last.BUSBY.

funny and not. Sorry Busby

 

[Coolcats]

I wonder what 'advised' means

Probably the same as the Dr when they Advise against smoking

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[jongood]

I have gave up on abroad 2021 and changed my ferry booking (Newcastle ) to 2022
Partly due the covid stuff rumbling on and also where we were likely to head got affected by the flooding
Only plus is the crossing is ££ cheaper for 22

If its still running that is.

 

[SD j]

Great news , just in time for our tunnel crossing on Saturday.
No iso =longer holiday

 

[gerry mcg]

Great news , just in time for our tunnel crossing on Saturday.
No iso =longer holiday

I hope you are going out on Saturday, not returning on Saturday....
"The changes from 04:00 BST on 8 August"
That is 4am Sunday morning

 

[MichaelT]

Fingers crossed France will be green by September.

TBH the only difference i can see is you don't need to quarantine from an Amber country if fully jabbed, still need test before coming back and day 2 test. I guess the only good thing is if its green its unlikely to go red while away.

Next review in 3 weeks so hopefully good news before our departure on the 29th

 

[busby]

Am I correct in thinking that even if your returning from a Green list country and are double jabbed you still have to take a test before departure back to the U.K. as well as fill in online a PLF and book a day 2 test.
If so we haven’t really gained much and we’re still having to jump through hoops just to go on holiday

It's not difficult to fill plf in on line or book a day 2 test.Many chemists do the antigen test and the BONUS is no quarantine,,BUSBY.

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[jongood]

TBH the only difference i can see is you don't need to quarantine from an Amber country if fully jabbed, still need test before coming back and day 2 test. I guess the only good thing is if its green its unlikely to go red while away.

Next review in 3 weeks so hopefully good news before our departure on the 29th

Correct, Amber and Green are identical if double jabbed.

 

[PhilandMena]

Exactly

It means it's not a legal requirement to take a PCR test.

 

[EuroTrotters]

Spain was just antigen, now it seems a suggestion of PCR

 

[Top Hat]

Correct, Amber and Green are identical if double jabbed.

Travel Insurance cover could also be different, Amper = advised not to travel, Green no advice.

 

[Phileas Fogg]

Little confused if we transit through France and go to Germany a green country do we still need to do all the tests?

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