Understanding day 2 and 8 Covid test

borderline

The government  site says after arriving from abroad we have to provide a day 2 and day 8 test during quarantine and it has to be a private test costing £210 (outrageous) but how does this work? is the test kit sent to your address and then you return it? how do you return it if you can't leave the house? is this a swab test? 
say on day 8 if you send it back how long to get the result? on day 10 you are supposed to be free again , what if you don't get the result back?  
who are these private companies asking for so much money for a test? there are some "approved" links on the government site, must be all friends of matt Hancock 

and it looks all these tests will still stand after May 17th if returning from an amber country... 
Some may say don't go abroad but not everyone trying to go away is for holidays, not in my case, I wouldn't bother otherwise 

Peggio

One of the approved supplier does not ship the test, you are authorised to go for the swab test.
So probably you can receive your test at home and go out for shipping it back.
regarding the costs, these are PCR test as are needed to look for variants and the cost is always above £100/each. 

HereToday

If you check the list again, you will find at least one supplier offering both tests and result for around £100. Though you need to have a webcam and Internet access at the time of taking the test for the results to be valid.

silvercar

If you don’t get the results back you have to wait until you do! If they don’t come by around day 12, the NHS may well send you for a test instead. If you are in England you have the option of test and release from day 5, if you wish to pay more to be released early.

Sandtree

borderline said:

The government  site says after arriving from abroad we have to provide a day 2 and day 8 test during quarantine and it has to be a private test costing £210 (outrageous) but how does this work? is the test kit sent to your address and then you return it? how do you return it if you can't leave the house? is this a swab test? 
say on day 8 if you send it back how long to get the result? on day 10 you are supposed to be free again , what if you don't get the result back?  
who are these private companies asking for so much money for a test? there are some "approved" links on the government site, must be all friends of matt Hancock 

Before you travel back to the UK you must buy the tests from one of the approved companies. The company will give you a specific code and that code must go onto the new passenger locator form. If you buy the tests from someone not on the approved list then immigration are supposed to not allow you in until you have purchased the correct tests from the right companies... this is all part of why there have been 7+ hour queues 

There is a fairly wide range in prices for the two swab kit and there is no obvious differential between them to say why you should go for anything but the cheapest. The cheaper ones are half the price of the normal price to pay for a single PCR and are falling. Some airlines etc are trying to do deals so worth checking with everyone in your supply chain to see if you can get discounts but ultimately make sure its the right thing you are buying

Most the providers are nationwide and they just post you the kit. The day you arrive back in the UK is day 0 and so the second full day in the UK you do test one and put it in the post. Ideally someone living with you would do this for you but if you've all been on the same trip then one of you should go to the nearest postbox to drop it off and go straight back home. Rinse and repeat on day 8.

You can pay to have a third test on day 5 if you want to escape earlier but this is in addition to the day 8 that must still happen.

sheramber

https://www.royalmail.com/priority-postboxes

You may be asked to post your sample in one of over 35,000 specially selected Royal Mail priority postboxes. We also have later collection times on a Saturday and new Sunday collections from over 15,000 priority postboxes*. You can find your nearest priority postbox on Services Near You or on the Royal Mail app. If you need help locating a priority postbox you can telephone 0345 266 8038 Monday to Friday 8am-6pm.  

* Use the filter on Services Near You to help locate later Saturday and Sunday Collections

strawberries1

Which provider is cheapest? I have to travel for medical treatment next week.

Sandtree

strawberries1 said:

Which provider is cheapest? I have to travel for medical treatment next week.

The government website lists both the approved providers and their price.. you buy on your return so just check then

boatman

Can someone please explain the logic of continuing to quarantine for the full 10 days if your day 2 test is negative?

The government state on the NHS website you don't need to 'self-isolate' if your test is negative, so the travel policy contradicts it.

silvercar

boatman said:

Can someone please explain the logic of continuing to quarantine for the full 10 days if your day 2 test is negative?

The government state on the NHS website you don't need to 'self-isolate' if your test is negative, so the travel policy contradicts it.

It’s a precaution, as you could be about to go down with COVID-19, but the test hasn’t picked it up yet. It is known to take a few days to incubate and you could be infectious for 48 hours before you test positive or have symptoms. Given the supposed higher risk that you could bring a new variant of concern to the UK from abroad, you are required to continue to isolate for 10 days and until your day 8 test result comes back. If you live in England you could opt to do test to release on day 5, but are still required to do the day 8 test.

boatman

silvercar said:

boatman said:

Can someone please explain the logic of continuing to quarantine for the full 10 days if your day 2 test is negative?

The government state on the NHS website you don't need to 'self-isolate' if your test is negative, so the travel policy contradicts it.

It’s a precaution, as you could be about to go down with COVID-19, but the test hasn’t picked it up yet. It is known to take a few days to incubate and you could be infectious for 48 hours before you test positive or have symptoms. Given the supposed higher risk that you could bring a new variant of concern to the UK from abroad, you are required to continue to isolate for 10 days and until your day 8 test result comes back. If you live in England you could opt to do test to release on day 5, but are still required to do the day 8 test.

Ok, so why not just allow people to quarantine for 10 days without test?

Or, instead, allow or insist people take a 5 day test.

If you are already fully vaccinated, it all seems daft. Yes, i understand you can still catch it, but its been shown the chances of passing it on are very low because you probably won't have the coughing.