Canary Islands added to UK Safe List

epm-84

Butts said:

I actually preferred the sound of Denmark which also came back, but don't think I'm "A worthy Person" with a valid reason for entry - unfortunately 

The travel corridors and whether or not a 14 day quarantine is applicable on return is not just about allowing British people to go on holiday, it also affects Danish people living in the UK wanting to visit family back home, British people who have been working in Denmark and are due to return home to the UK, Danish people wanting to go to the UK on holiday etc.

CKhalvashi

epm-84 said:

Butts said:

I actually preferred the sound of Denmark which also came back, but don't think I'm "A worthy Person" with a valid reason for entry - unfortunately 

The travel corridors and whether or not a 14 day quarantine is applicable on return is not just about allowing British people to go on holiday, it also affects Danish people living in the UK wanting to visit family back home, British people who have been working in Denmark and are due to return home to the UK, Danish people wanting to go to the UK on holiday etc.

Agree. Poland has banned flights at times from France and Spain, but even now hasn't banned flights from the UK with the latest government failure to control the virus (something that Poland has managed perfectly adequately).

This is likely due to the large numbers of VFR passengers and the general feeling in the country that the British government isn't looking after the interests of Poland's nationals, therefore this is an 'essential' corridor to remain in this case.

Corridors aren't necessarily about holidays, they are partly about business (I have increasing economic ties to Poland and have been welcomed without a problem) and VFR, which are more important than Butts' endless BA holidays at the moment.

epm-84

CKhalvashi said:

epm-84 said:

Butts said:

I actually preferred the sound of Denmark which also came back, but don't think I'm "A worthy Person" with a valid reason for entry - unfortunately 

The travel corridors and whether or not a 14 day quarantine is applicable on return is not just about allowing British people to go on holiday, it also affects Danish people living in the UK wanting to visit family back home, British people who have been working in Denmark and are due to return home to the UK, Danish people wanting to go to the UK on holiday etc.

(something that Poland has managed perfectly adequately).

Based on some of the reports from people who went to Krakow before the UK removed the Poland travel corridor, I'm not sure that is the case.  Some people reported not only that hardly any locals were socially distancing but that taxi drivers told tourists wearing masks that they could take them off as masks aren't needed in Poland.  This directly resulted in some people who thought masks and social distancing were a waste of time, booking trips to Krakow!  Not long after the infection rate in Poland shot up, primarily due to a surge in cases in Krakow and Polish nationals had travel restrictions imposed on them by other EU countries.
 

CKhalvashi

epm-84 said:

CKhalvashi said:

epm-84 said:

Butts said:

I actually preferred the sound of Denmark which also came back, but don't think I'm "A worthy Person" with a valid reason for entry - unfortunately 

The travel corridors and whether or not a 14 day quarantine is applicable on return is not just about allowing British people to go on holiday, it also affects Danish people living in the UK wanting to visit family back home, British people who have been working in Denmark and are due to return home to the UK, Danish people wanting to go to the UK on holiday etc.

(something that Poland has managed perfectly adequately).

Based on some of the reports from people who went to Krakow before the UK removed the Poland travel corridor, I'm not sure that is the case.  Some people reported not only that hardly any locals were socially distancing but that taxi drivers told tourists wearing masks that they could take them off as masks aren't needed in Poland.  This directly resulted in some people who thought masks and social distancing were a waste of time, booking trips to Krakow!  Not long after the infection rate in Poland shot up, primarily due to a surge in cases in Krakow and Polish nationals had travel restrictions imposed on them by other EU countries.
 

True, but all of Poland isn't Krakow.

People in general do keep their distance a lot more and are aware of what is happening around them. I haven't been to Krakow though this year, and it is rare in Poland for being tourist-centric, I've been to Warsaw, Katowice and Gdansk.

Masks on buses are both required and enforced (mainly by old ladies, as some Ukrainians found on the bus from Gdansk Airport to the centre, there is a heavy level of respect for elders in CEE). Masks in shopping centres are also enforced (I had one around my wrist that was placed covering my nose and mouth the minute I went into somewhere without daylight above) by security.

People were also choosing largely to sit outside (although it's getting colder now, so this may not continue) to a greater level than I've seen in the last year.

Poland is not at a rate of 300/100000 in infections in the last 2 weeks and never has been, and proportional to testing the numbers are much lower so this argument won't work too.

Thrugelmir

CKhalvashi said:

epm-84 said:

Butts said:

I actually preferred the sound of Denmark which also came back, but don't think I'm "A worthy Person" with a valid reason for entry - unfortunately 

The travel corridors and whether or not a 14 day quarantine is applicable on return is not just about allowing British people to go on holiday, it also affects Danish people living in the UK wanting to visit family back home, British people who have been working in Denmark and are due to return home to the UK, Danish people wanting to go to the UK on holiday etc.

Agree. Poland has banned flights at times from France and Spain, but even now hasn't banned flights from the UK with the latest government failure to control the virus (something that Poland has managed perfectly adequately).

This is likely due to the large numbers of VFR passengers and the general feeling in the country that the British government isn't looking after the interests of Poland's nationals, therefore this is an 'essential' corridor to remain in this case.

Corridors aren't necessarily about holidays, they are partly about business (I have increasing economic ties to Poland and have been welcomed without a problem) and VFR, which are more important than Butts' endless BA holidays at the moment.

I recall saying a little while back watch the news. Is Poland managing perfectly adequately now?  7 day running average deaths of 118.  Daily case count over 10,000.  How many tests are performed on a daily basis?  Bet it's well short of what the UK is achieving relative to the size of the population.  

Urban area population density is a far better way of making comparisons. Helps make more sense of why certain places are worse than others. Likewise where it's potentially safer to travel. 

epm-84

Thrugelmir said:

CKhalvashi said:

epm-84 said:

Butts said:

I actually preferred the sound of Denmark which also came back, but don't think I'm "A worthy Person" with a valid reason for entry - unfortunately 

The travel corridors and whether or not a 14 day quarantine is applicable on return is not just about allowing British people to go on holiday, it also affects Danish people living in the UK wanting to visit family back home, British people who have been working in Denmark and are due to return home to the UK, Danish people wanting to go to the UK on holiday etc.

Agree. Poland has banned flights at times from France and Spain, but even now hasn't banned flights from the UK with the latest government failure to control the virus (something that Poland has managed perfectly adequately).

This is likely due to the large numbers of VFR passengers and the general feeling in the country that the British government isn't looking after the interests of Poland's nationals, therefore this is an 'essential' corridor to remain in this case.

Corridors aren't necessarily about holidays, they are partly about business (I have increasing economic ties to Poland and have been welcomed without a problem) and VFR, which are more important than Butts' endless BA holidays at the moment.

I recall saying a little while back watch the news. Is Poland managing perfectly adequately now?  7 day running average deaths of 118.  Daily case count over 10,000.  How many tests are performed on a daily basis?  Bet it's well short of what the UK is achieving relative to the size of the population.  

Urban area population density is a far better way of making comparisons. Helps make more sense of why certain places are worse than others. Likewise where it's potentially safer to travel. 

According to https://www.worldometers.info/ since the start of the pandemic Poland has done 114,465 tests per 1 million population compared to the UK's 458,213 per 1 million.  Denmark has done 846,025 per 1 million, which is why the UK government are happy for Denmark to be on the travel corridor list when countries with a lower reported case rate aren't.

Out of all the countries in the world which report the number of currently active cases (which the UK, Netherlands, Sweden and Spain do not) Poland is currently the 12th highest in the world with 136,631 beating much larger countries like Germany, Bangladesh and Canada, while many of the countries in the top 12 are among the largest in the world (by population) like Russia, India, Brazil, Mexico and USA.