Amber and what it means ?

[BAJ]

So I thought I understood after today’s announcement that Greece being amber meant no travel for leisure. Even checked the gov.uk this evening to confirm. The wording on gov.uk being ‘you should not travel to an amber list country for leisure purposes’
Oh well, as expected holiday cancelled for 29th May, couldn’t self isolate after the holiday in any case.
The holiday I should say is a flight only with BA and accommodation at Anatoli. Well Peter from Anatoli emailed me within 2 hours of the announcement to check that we would not be coming and to move it to next May.
Waiting to see if BA cancel the flight for a refund, if not we will have to cancel for a voucher as per their terms when we booked it.

BUT - then receive an email from TUI this evening saying they are flying to green and amber and specifically Corfu from 17th May, book your holiday here type thing! What the heck is going on, that is contrary to government advice for travel to amber countries. Seems like confusion reigns!

[Karen]

I don't think the website has been updated. We can travel for leisure, but not until May 17th.

[Karen]

Grant Schapps is trying to discourage travel to amber list countries, because of the stringent checks that will be done, on arrival at UK airports and the queues it will create.

[Jimbo]

I think basically amber means we shouldn't travel, but it's not forbidden.

What is not at all comforting is the rule - including for green zones - that you must have a certified negative test before returning. Admittedly, the government site has not been updated since January, but I cannot see how this is going to work in places like Agios Stefanos. Although it can be a lateral flow test, it still means facilities will be needed for people to take a test and receive a certificate in English. And, of course, there's an unknown cost factor in this. Lateral flow tests produce a significant number of false positives, and the only solution to that is a PCR test. In 2018 331,000 tourists visited Corfu. According to some posts on Trip Advisor () a PCR test is available in Corfu Town for £60, with a three hour turn-around, so factor that in.

Maybe Lesley will know what plans are in place in Northern Corfu for certified testing. At the moment, travelling during orange classification looks very unattractive. That really needs clarification.

The "green" package for Tui customers from Chronomics is cheap at £20 for a pre-return later flow test and a PCR test on day two after return. Personally, I think the UK government should waive the pre-return test for fully-vaccinated people, whilst retaining the PCR test upon return. 

[Karen]

I get what you are saying, Jim. Just been listening to Dr Chris on BBC. He is saying, although we are vaccinated, we can still pick up a variant, that might bypass the vaccination and bring it back to the UK, we really don't need that..

[Jimbo]

Absolutely. I have no objection to taking a PCR test, pre-booked for two days after my return, if it costs £20. Eliminating the need for fully vaccinated to take an unreliable lateral flow test before return would make it feasible for suitably monitored testing for those who would require it at reasonable cost in holiday areas. So, for NW Corfu it would make sense to have a centre in Sidari with proper monitoring. That test could be self-administered but witnessed.

Another - possibly stupid possibility - would be for travel Reps to witness and certify a self-administered test. It would not be a big burden, and certainly not in the interests of the travel companies to be irresponsible. I image that Lesley, as a highly-experienced rep and senior rep, will have a view of this. It's not practical to have the entire UK tourist cohort travel to Corfu Town to get tested and certified - although that would be mouth-wateringly profitable for the testing company.

The Which guidance on the regulations states that travel insurance may well be invalidated for people travelling to orange-rated countries. That's an extremely important point.

At the moment the only variant that seems to have vaccine-evasion capabilities is the South African variety.

Incidentally, the current threshold for green-lighting is fewer than 25 per 100,000 over seven days. Corfu is at about that, or slightly lower. The Athens region is far above. But there is a problem with the statistics where the sample size is low. Small fluctuations can seem amplified: the bigger the number tested is, the greater the accuracy. Corfu's rates in the last full week have fluctuated between zero and forty-three on any given day. Another complication is that different countries use different metrics for the rate per 100,000 calculation. The UK uses the adult population: the EU uses the entire population. From that you can see that the EU results will be a bit more optimistic than the UK results.

What is needed is clarification of exactly the requirements for the return test.

Sorry for the long post, but it's an extremely important issue for those who want to to travel. 

[Karen]

Great post Jim

[BAJ]

I don't think the website has been updated. We can travel for leisure, but not until May 17th.

Hi Karen, if only! The quote was taken from the page published yesterday referring to travel from 17th May onwards.
I’m sure all will become clear in fullness of time, and for all the reasons Jim has referred to we won’t be able to go on 29th May. Mostly because work means we couldn’t self isolate on return and the risk that the pre-departure test in Corfu is positive and we are not allowed to travel back to UK.
Fingers crossed end of July holiday will be on.

[Karen]

Hi BAJ, it is confusing. TUI are now booking holidays to Corfu, from 17th May.. The traffic light lists will be reviewed every 3 weeks, which means Corfu will remain Amber until 7th June. I hope you get your July holiday!

[Karen]

Hi BAJ, it is confusing. TUI are now booking holidays to Corfu, from 17th May.. The traffic light lists will be reviewed every 3 weeks, which means Corfu will remain Amber until 7th June. I hope you get your July holiday!

I've just gone back on the TUI site..the first date for booking  is now 28th May! I guess people are now booking!

[spikeyb]

With about 80 cases in the last 3 days in corfu its not surprising Greece and all the islands are on the amber list

[Jimbo]

That's right. There appears to have been a significant rise in cases in Corfu over the last ten days. That's roughly in line with the national average of 121:100,000.

[Lesley]

Re testing - I did read a post (via another media platform) saying that this is possible at the chemist in Arillas but I am not 100% sure, so if I hear anything further will post.  It would appear that if the Greek government is saying from May 15th both Domestic and International travel is permitted they will have a system in place? 

[Jimbo]

Enimerosi reports thus:

As a consequence of Greece not being included in the green list announced by the UK Government, Corfu hotels are delaying opening.

According to Corfu Hoteliers' Association President Babis Voulgaris, the number of bookings was, in any case, low. They are expected to increase when the country is included in the list without restrictions. This, however, won't happen for at least another three weeks, when the next announcement is made and if epidemiological conditions allow it.

For this reason, hoteliers consider the present period to be critical and following the announcement from the UK the Association took the initiative of organising a campaign to encourage locals to have the vaccination so that the situation on the island can improve. They are waiting to see what the response will be to the initiative from other tourist professionals.

Given the current infection rates in Greece I can't see any chance of a green light much before July, unfortunately.

[Karen]

I've just gone back on the TUI site..the first date for booking  is now 28th May! I guess people are now booking!

Reading Jim's post, I guess it's because Corfu are delaying opening hotels..