Arrivals to UK need a Covid test before travelling.

orange-juice

Turns out it is 2 days, according to UK and Scottish government websites.

BBC were wrong in their reporting -https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-59534685

silvercar

The SIs have been published now, so it’s definitely 2 days.

cx6

just to clarify - for a wed 9pm flight the test can be taken any time  monday ?

eskbanker

cx6 said:

just to clarify - for a wed 9pm flight the test can be taken any time  monday ?

That's the clear implication of the timescales published on the gov.uk site, yes, although it would be helpful if they updated the example once the new 2-day regime has replaced the 3-day one in 2.5 hours time!

cx6

thanks @eskbanker

eskbanker

eskbanker said:

cx6 said:

just to clarify - for a wed 9pm flight the test can be taken any time  monday ?

That's the clear implication of the timescales published on the gov.uk site, yes, although it would be helpful if they updated the example once the new 2-day regime has replaced the 3-day one in 2.5 hours time!

Forgot to check yesterday but the example has now been updated, confirming the above interpretation:

When to take your test

You must take the test in the 2 days before your service to England departs.

For example, if you travel directly to England on Friday, you could take a test any time on the Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. The test result must be available for boarding.

If your journey to England is a multi-leg journey, you can take the test in the 2 days before the start of the first leg.

mar7t1n

onashoestring said:

A swab of fresh air will give you a void or inconclusive test result - not a negative test.
It will not be accepted for boarding a flight.

You are wrong on that - try it with a free NHS test - nothing sampled => no covid => no +ve marker. The "C" is a "control/consumed" line with shows the test solution has travelled sufficiently up the test kit in order to have activated the test marker should there have been any covid present in the sample, and also that it's been consumed and cannot be used again.

These tests are a pure rip off. You upload a photo, tick a box to say it's negative and a machine instantly sends you an email to confirm it. Which when you try and show it on your mobile at the airport and it's so tiny nobody can verify anything other than you're aware of the rules so must presume you have followed them. They have value on the outbound trip as you would be mad to travel to a foreign country if your about to go down with something, but you're going to use a free one to check they surely! Prior to return - we all just want to get home whatever it takes. The people next to you on the aircraft have been vaccinated. Assume they are infected and keep your mask on is all we can do.

A national testing day where everyone encouraged to do a test at the same time would be of far more benefit to society.

silvercar

mar7t1n said:

onashoestring said:

A swab of fresh air will give you a void or inconclusive test result - not a negative test.
It will not be accepted for boarding a flight.

You are wrong on that - try it with a free NHS test - nothing sampled => no covid => no +ve marker. The "C" is a "control/consumed" line with shows the test solution has travelled sufficiently up the test kit in order to have activated the test marker should there have been any covid present in the sample, and also that it's been consumed and cannot be used again.

These tests are a pure rip off. You upload a photo, tick a box to say it's negative and a machine instantly sends you an email to confirm it. Which when you try and show it on your mobile at the airport and it's so tiny nobody can verify anything other than you're aware of the rules so must presume you have followed them. They have value on the outbound trip as you would be mad to travel to a foreign country if your about to go down with something, but you're going to use a free one to check they surely! Prior to return - we all just want to get home whatever it takes. The people next to you on the aircraft have been vaccinated. Assume they are infected and keep your mask on is all we can do.

A national testing day where everyone encouraged to do a test at the same time would be of far more benefit to society.

They tried that in the first wave with some success. It was called surge testing. I remember certain areas of Liverpool and some London boroughs were covered.

virgo17

mar7t1n said:

These tests are a pure rip off. You upload a photo, tick a box to say it's negative and a machine instantly sends you an email to confirm it.

Whilst I agree that these tests are a rip off, I would point out that my recent LFT before travelling from Spain to UK two days ago was not like that. Certainly, I had to upload a photo of the test cassette and my passport, but nowhere was I asked to tick a box or state that the test was negative.

The certificate arrived about 2.5 hours after submitting it. Whilst some clever computer system could probably scan the image I uploaded, it seems more likely that a human had checked the result and issued the certificate.