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Corona / Covid-19 Virus - General Discussion (politics go to the Off Topic / Politics thread)

Scheduled for my 2nd Pfizer shot on Wednsday… 1st was without any side effects apart from feeling tired about 2 days after. Will see what this one does. Paracetamol looks like a good idea I suppose. My wife will get her first shot on Tuesday.

LSZH(work) LSZF (GA base), Switzerland

Just been invited for my first jab on Tues 18th May.

39 and no health issues or other route of qualification, so they are really getting through the population.

EGLM & EGTN

Hard to see how the NHS could end up with a big workload now.

Got my 2nd one next week.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

aart wrote:

Just read that the UK will not distinguish between regions and will only classify travel rules per country for now. A significant blow for us here on the Balearics,

It is a difficult decision. The key challenge for tourism is, that case numbers broadly reflect what has happened in a region 7-14 days ago, not what is happening today. Therefore it can only be a rough proxy for the risk. In addition – and even worse for mass travel locations like Mallorca: The biggest risk is not transmission from locals to tourist, but tourist/tourist infections.
If thousands of Brits conquer Magaluf or thousands of Germans El Arenal, it doesn’t really matter how many locals are infected but only how many of these tourists bring the virus with them.

The only reasonable regulation for for vacations these days would be, that every traveler needs to do a test on the day before returning, leaving the “risk window” to infections that happen in the last 2-3 days of their vacations

Last Edited by Malibuflyer at 10 May 06:24
Germany

Malibuflyer wrote:

The only reasonable regulation for for vacations these days would be, that every traveler needs to do a test on the day before returning, leaving the “risk window” to infections that happen in the last 2-3 days of their vacations

Why? If the country they return to has a high enough vaccination level, any person entering whether infected or not, or whether vaccinated or not, can be tolerated. In a highly vaccinated country the disease, while still nasty, is no longer a lethal threat that justifies restrictions like that.

We are entering a time of interesting dilemma. In the past, we did not restrict mildly ill people, even those with symptoms, from being in close proximity with others, let alone restricting them from flying home. How far back to that state will we go?

Biggin Hill

Cobalt wrote:

If the country they return to has a high enough vaccination level, any person entering whether infected or not, or whether vaccinated or not, can be tolerated.

Fully agree – that is why I wrote “these days”! These days even the US only has just about 30% of its population fully vaccinated. All European countries are clearly below 30%.

If the country they return to has a vaccination level beyond 75% I’m obviously fully with you – it, however, will take some time to get there…

Germany

Malibuflyer wrote:

The biggest risk is not transmission from locals to tourist, but tourist/tourist infections.

And tourists to locals I’d say.

Hence the still valid test requirements for many countries. The question is how long they will be needed, once vaccinations have progressed to say 50-70%. Testing on both ways is a costly exercise which also carries quite a risk of being stranded and loosing flights and reservations. As long as it is necessary, not that many people will travel.

LSZH(work) LSZF (GA base), Switzerland

Mooney_Driver wrote:

Testing on both ways is a costly exercise which also carries quite a risk of being stranded and loosing flights and reservations.

If you buy them in thousands, a test is less than 5 EUR. Less than 10 EUR is a negligible cost compared to the total cost of the trip. And missing flights is only a challenge for those people who do not want to test or are completely unorganized. Would be easy for hotels to offer tests every morning/evening with breakfast and dinner so that everybody can easily get tested well within 24hrs of the flight.
Mooney_Driver wrote:

As long as it is necessary, not that many people will travel.

Might well be – but only based on irrational behavior rather than based on facts.

Germany

In addition – and even worse for mass travel locations like Mallorca: The biggest risk is not transmission from locals to tourist, but tourist/tourist infections.

Spain still requires PCR testing for incoming people, so not such a high risk of Brits bringing the disease with them. Mass inside and outside gatherings of tourists are not allowed here, and masks are obligatory, even outside. Inside portions of restaurants are closed. Night curfew. And how likely is it that tourist/tourist infections take place on the beach? Also, the Balearics is much more than Magaluf and El Arenal. Plenty of Brits who have a second home here who are equally almost barred from traveling having to get into quarantine upon return. In any case, countries like the Netherlands do not seem to see that risk.

I agree with you that it is not unreasonable for countries to require a test, but should it not be time to get into the cheaper and quicker Ag testing and just accept the fact that a few may slip through?

Come to think of, it may even be beneficial for the UK to allow their citizens to travel abroad. This way an outbound traveler gets tested. Suppose they catch a few this way which would not have been caught otherwise

Private field, Mallorca, Spain

aart wrote:

Spain still requires PCR testing for incoming people, so not such a high risk of Brits bringing the disease with them.

Not to mention the fact that the new-cases-per-day rate in the UK is about one quarter of that in Spain, and to put that figure in context the UK is conducting around 7 times more tests (on a per head of population basis) each day than Spain.

Daily new confirmed cases per million people (7 day rolling average – 9th May): UK 31.03, Spain 132.40

Daily new tests per 1,000 people (29th April): UK 15.84, Spain 2.66

All numbers from ourworldindata.org

I don’t think the Spanish have much to worry about in respect of visitors from the UK, apart from the usual drinking too much and making a lot of noise. The requirement to wear masks outdoors may really put people off.

Last Edited by Graham at 10 May 15:28
EGLM & EGTN
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