Wish you weren’t there! Summer holidays are being totally ruined by the confusing & random red listing of vacation hotspots
Just when you thought it was safe to take a break abroad, the shambles caused by the UK’s ever-shifting Covid-19 rules and the sudden imposition of quarantine on popular holiday destinations has piled on the misery for thousands.
The UK’s latest round of travel roulette comes into play first thing tomorrow, destroying what’s left of any summer holiday plans for thousands of Brits suddenly finding they’ll be stuck in self-isolation for a fortnight unless they can make it back from their destination in time.
Talk about having sand kicked in your face! And as the shambles continues, not a word from PM Boris Johnson, enjoying his own glamping trip in Scotland. May the midges not spare him.
First, it was Spain. Then, last weekend, it was France, Aruba, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The week before, it was Andorra, the Bahamas, and Belgium. This weekend, it’s Croatia, Austria, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Tomorrow? Who bloody knows? Lotteryland? Russian Roulettia? Abritarymuchistan?
It’s been like this all summer, in a cruel, interminable raffle apparently designed to spoil family holidays, ruin long-delayed reunions, empty your bank account, and make life even more miserable than it was under lockdown.
What can be worse for an exhausted family, having been cooped up for months, to think they are heading off for some sun, sand, sea and sangria, only to be told, with 30 hours’ notice, that, unless they can somehow double the amount of time they’re allowed off work, this is not going to happen? And if they’re already on holiday, they need to neck down that pina colada, pack their bags and get to the airport pronto – supposing there are any recently hiked, super-expensive seats left to be had (dontcha just love our sympathetic, never-miss-an-opportunity-to-fleece-us airlines?).
With so many people now jobless, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, and millions more furloughed on reduced pay, money is tight, make no mistake.
A friend of mine and her husband seized their chance at the end of lockdown to zip off to the Canary island of Tenerife, stuck out in the Atlantic Ocean over 1,000 miles from Madrid in mainland Spain.
Just two days into their vacation, the UK government announced that those returning from both mainland Spain, which was experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases, and the Spanish islands, which were not, would have to self-isolate in the UK on their return for 14 days under the threat of a £1,000 fine, rising to £3,200 for persistent offenders.
Two weeks’ leave is one thing, but following that up with another two weeks’ unpaid holiday is quite something else.
The couple had no choice but to return immediately to the UK, because they just couldn’t afford the time off in self-isolation, having already spent months in lockdown and unable to work full-time.
Holiday ruined, non-refundable flights abandoned, and costly new return tickets at way-over-the-odds prices. It’s not how they thought their much-needed summer break would turn out.
Needless to say, on reaching the UK, they faced no checks on re-entry whatsoever, although they could see the public health staff supposedly awaiting their arrival chatting amiably with each other behind border control desks as travellers passed by unmolested.
And they’re not alone. There are thousands of people who can relate similar experiences, with Transport Minister Grant Shapps, the very guy who makes these announcements, at one point caught in a own Spanish mousetrap of his own making.
He left on holiday with his family, then – snap! – quarantine struck and he was forced to return early from Ibiza and self-isolate with his family. Que pena.
Sure, some holidaymakers in Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and elsewhere who found themselves on the ever-changing travellers’ hit list may have made the decision to stay abroad and spend the required time in quarantine on their return. But the window of opportunity for those currently on holiday, or planning an imminent trip, is quickly closing, because, in a fortnight, schools in England resume activity after the summer break. They’re already back in Scotland.
And it’s been made clear by many headteachers that pupils are expected to return to class from day one. The long holiday is over and it’s time to start the new school year.
But only if you’re not supposed to be self-isolating, when, if that’s the case, you’re to stay at home until you’re all clear.
Frankly, it couldn’t be a bigger cock-up. And who’s in charge of this shambles anyway?
Where to go? Where not to go? Which country’s on the red list? Which isn’t? Does anyone know?
This week, while Croatia, Austria, and Trinidad and Tobago are out of favour, Portugal – the annual destination of choice for more than two million British holidaymakers – is now OK. But for how long?
People are madly booking holidays to squeeze in a bit of Algarve sunshine before the kids go back to school, but – who knows – a sudden rise in infections in that part of the Iberian peninsula could see that destination back on the no-go list and travellers facing self-isolation on their return.
Such is the seeming arbitrariness of the decision-making process, you just don’t know.
OK, most of us get how it works, though maybe not to the extent that we monitor its vagaries minute by minute. The UK looks at the number of Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people as the benchmark before deciding whether or not a country is safe to visit. But that all depends on how many tests are being carried out. If one country’s carrying out, say, 10,000 tests a day, its cases are likely to be markedly lower than a country carrying out 100,000 a day.
The chances of being red-listed, meaning non-essential travel is discouraged and quarantine on return is mandatory, rises if the cases per 100,000 top 20, and at 30, it’s pretty much a certainty.
But because of the nature of Covid-19, infection rates can be comfortably lower than that target one day, then clearly higher just days later. And, strangely, the UK makes no allowances for regional considerations in many European countries. Spain, for instance, locked down areas of its mainland, while allowing the Balearics and Canaries to avoid the draconian restrictions.
We have the confusing situation where the government is enforcing regional lockdowns in places such as Leicester and Oldham, while allowing the rest of us to go about our business. However, when it comes to other countries, the UK won’t accept that system, but simply blankets the whole nation in red.
On the ground, those I know who’ve been on holiday tell of hotel operators, restaurant owners and others in the tourism industry busily reassuring guests that everything is alright, while the holidaymakers are trying to make sense of the advice coming out of the UK that they need to return home to quarantine.
That makes it impossible to relax by the pool sipping your cold cerveza because you start becoming increasingly anxious that, if you choose to stay abroad, a less sympathetic employer, no longer enjoying government help with paying your salary, could decide you’re not part of their plans for the future. And then what?
Put quite simply, it’s been the worst summer on record. While the weather’s been great and the Eat Out to Help Out scheme has been fun, the rest has pretty much sucked, much like the rest of 2020. I’ll be delighted when it’s over. When the kids return to school and the distractions inherent in working from home return to manageable levels.
If they ever do, then quarantine be damned – I’m having a holiday.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
