Something to be aware of.

[Cabinetman]

So my lovely lady was to return to the US on Saturday, organised a fit to fly Covid test which duly arrived. You have to show that you were tested negative 3 days prior to flying.
Well she did the test on Wednesday morning and I posted it straight off. They received it on Thursday (we got notification) and on our way down to Heathrow on Friday they had done 30% of the work. By 6 pm we were getting anxious so contacted the company to find that they don’t work outside office hours Monday to Friday, the company by the way is called Rightangle. Should be Rightcockup
We checked around for a very expensive test that we could get done in time for her flight at 10 am on Saturday morning to no avail.
We rescheduled the flight and American Airlines were brilliant, it only cost another $38, and an hour after she should have taken off, we got the results back – negative.
The point of this tale is that when you do get the negative certificate the only date on it is the date on which it was issued so don’t hang about you can get the test done and sent off so that you don’t clash with a weekend.
Flying on a weekend? Get the thing sent off at the beginning of the week.
The whole thing is ridiculously badly managed, you don’t know how long it’s actually going to take to get the results back and you have hotels and flights and important things relying on people who are only in it to make a lot of money and really don’t give a toss.
In hindsight there are companies near Heathrow who claim to be able to do it in a few hours and it’s probably worthwhile going down early the day before to get the results back in time. But of course that’s even more expensive.
The only good thing to come out of it was that we got an extra day together, but of course that was at the expense of another night in the hotel at Heathrow. Ian

 

[marcros]

I heard a tale on the radio that certain airlines aren't accepting any test that you do yourself, so it is another thing to be ware of. That was a Portuguese airline I think, I caught the end of it on radio 4 one lunchtime.

 

[Cabinetman]

Yes there are lots of different types and qualities of tests and it seems to go wrong. Looking at the small print most of these online companies even though they are on the governments go-to list they don’t do the test analysis themselves and consequently don’t guarantee anything at all.

 

[Spectric]

The whole thing is just one big farce, who is to say that you were negative three days prior to flying but subsequently caught it the day before flying or at the airport. The other joke is the traffic light system, you go to a "green" country because Borris says it is safer than the others but he does not control who else is turning up to this same country so in effect you could be mingling with anyone.

 

[Adam W.]

We get a PCR test turned around in 24 hrs, but then Denmark's quite a civilised place.

 

[RobinBHM]

We get a PCR test turned around in 24 hrs, but then Denmark's quite a civilised place.

Most places are quite civilised when compared to the current UK

 

[whatknot]

First world problems eh ;-)

Seems simple to me, don't fly

 

[paulrbarnard]

First world problems eh ;-)

Seems simple to me, don't fly

It’s not just flying. My daughter had to drive to Germany to demonstrate a vehicle to BMW. She required multiple tests to get there and back. That all went smoothly. The problem came back in the U.K. where she needed test results to shorten her quarantine period. At the time a clear test shortened the period to five days from 10. Guess how long it took for the results to come back. 11 days, the day after she was released back into the wild.

 

[Daniel2]

We get a PCR test turned around in 24 hrs, but then Denmark's quite a civilised place.

France has also managed to do this.
Results within 24 hours.

 

[Vann]

Ditto for New Zealand.

Cheers, Vann.

 

[chrispy108]

In the UK we have results within 24 hours for PCR tests run by the NHS/Government, but you aren't allowed to use those tests for flying/travelling, you need to pay a private company, which is where it can all fall down.
It's worth seeking out a testing company that actually run the lab, rather than paying a middle man, which can only slow things down.

 

[Setch]

In the UK we have results within 24 hours for PCR tests run by the NHS/Government, but you aren't allowed to use those tests for flying/travelling, you need to pay a private company, which is where it can all fall down.
It's worth seeking out a testing company that actually run the lab, rather than paying a middle man, which can only slow things down.

IMO, this is outrageous.

The Gov clearly had the ability to turn around tests in a timely fashion, so why on earth not use their capacity to perform private tests and recoup some of the expense of all the testing we've being doing for free.

Baffling. (Obviously not baffling, it's an ideological choice to line the pockets of private enterprise, but that's probably a subject for the hidden OT forum.)

 

[Cabinetman]

IMO, this is outrageous.

The Gov clearly had the ability to turn around tests in a timely fashion, so why on earth not use their capacity to perform private tests and recoup some of the expense of all the testing we've being doing for free.

Baffling. (Obviously not baffling, it's an ideological choice to line the pockets of private enterprise, but that's probably a subject for the hidden OT forum.)

I quite agree, but with the governments track record of getting involved in anything with a computer system it would probably have been a worse outcome than the one I had to suffer.

 

[Setch]

I quite agree, but with the governments track record of getting involved in anything with a computer system it would probably have been a worse outcome than the one I had to suffer.

Normally I'd agree with you, but for the most part the PCR testing has been impressively well managed.

 

[fhsa]

Normally I'd agree with you, but for the most part the PCR testing has been impressively well managed.

What Dido 'snout-in-trough' Harding did with said results has been somewhat suboptimal...

 

[Rorschach]

IMO, this is outrageous.

The Gov clearly had the ability to turn around tests in a timely fashion, so why on earth not use their capacity to perform private tests and recoup some of the expense of all the testing we've being doing for free.

Baffling. (Obviously not baffling, it's an ideological choice to line the pockets of private enterprise, but that's probably a subject for the hidden OT forum.)

Recoup the expense? You are just paying twice! lol.

 

[Setch]

Recoup the expense? You are just paying twice! lol.

Not if you charge for private testing. Now that the system is established, the nominal labour and materials cost per test is minimal, so you could charge double, triple, ten times cost and effectively subsidise the public health testing.

That profit is currently going to private enterprise, who seen to be performing woefully by most accounts.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

I should probably chip in and say that Greece has a well - oiled system - pcr tests done before 10am have the results sent by email that evening. A quick test takes 1 hour. Self tests are instant and available avail from all chemists.

All of that is moot if you still have to quarantine for 10 days when you get home, despite the fact that 80% of the UK population now have Covid19 antibodies.

 

[Rorschach]

All of that is moot if you still have to quarantine for 10 days when you get home, despite the fact that 80% of the UK population now have Covid19 antibodies.

I have found a great way to avoid quarantine, don't get tested. Indeed if no-one got tested, we wouldn't even be in a pandemic

 

[GuitardoctorW7]

We get a PCR test turned around in 24 hrs, but then Denmark's quite a civilised place.

I'm off to Tokyo next week, 3 PCR tests at 72,48 & 24 hours before flight. Company called Halo dealing with it turning the results around in less than 24 hours, not cheap though at £89 a pop, but Japanese govt mandate.