Reply With QuotePersonally I think the history books will look back on 2020 as the year that the world massively overreacted.Originally Posted by andrewcregan
Bit of an over reaction. Most people would like to have a holiday not “must” have a holiday. If people want to hide away then that’s fine, others want to get on with life (in as safe as possible way) and help businesses to recover. Maybe history books will look back and say lockdown was a waste of time, who knows and I guess no one will know for a year or so.
We need to get out and support businesses - those who need to shield or whatever can do that.
Personally I think the history books will look back on 2020 as the year that the world massively overreacted.
I really hope so too
It's all about balancing risk obviously. We've had a nice time here (and done our bit for the local tourist economy) but we wouldn't have come on 'holiday' here except that:
it was booked ages ago
it means my wife can spend some time with her sisters and the kids can spend some time with their cousins (all under 17 so exempt from Dutch social distancing rules)
Part of our thinking has been that we've come to a place with lower Covid-19 incidence than the UK and since we've been here we've kind of been in one big Anglo-Dutch bubble.
And we were prepared not to travel until the evening before we set off.
The interesting one for us will be if France is added to the '14 day isolation' list before we head home. I'll quite happily drive from the NL to the Eurotunnel terminal in one but will that still count as having been in France? A couple of weeks more self-isolation won't be a big issue for us as we work from home any but we'd definitely weigh up whether the cost of a ferry from Hoek/Rotterdam was worth it.
If you drive through France and do not get out the car then you do not have to quarantine. If you stop at a service station for fuel/snacks/whatever or interact with people then you do need to quarantine.
Let me think!
Ah yes. It depends where you go.
I would be interested in your analysis of my increased level of risk in heading for a September walking holiday in the Lake District, compared with just sitting at home in my garden, combined with daily walks around the local fields...
The thread was about holidays abroad, perhaps you missed that.
But since you ask, where will you be eating, where will you be staying, how many people will you come into contact with, will there be many other holidaymakers around who came from places with a high rate of Covid?
Yes, there will be an increased level of risk. It's your choice if it's acceptable to you, like I said "what could possibly go wrong...?"
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
No doubt many will have no problems. Others might not be so lucky.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Don’t think luck came in to it. We knew before we went, what type of holiday we were going on, and what the risks were.
I’d venture to say most even the vast majority…. It’s a risk stepping into your car each morning
It’s important to vigilant and considerate…. It’s also important that life and the global economy doesn’t grind to a halt
Our own government are of course encouraging us to eat out to help out
I agree with this. I have just returned from a couple of weeks camping in France and it seemed to me that life there at the moment is very similar to life here in the UK. People are just going about their business as we would here and most people are respecting the rules laid down and are trying to make a go of it.
As mentioned earlier, vulnerable people need to take care, but for most it must surely be important to try and get the economy working again whilst acting responsibly when we do go out and engage with others.
Of course life in France is similar to life here. There might not be a greater risk to health but there is a risk in getting caught out by travel restrictions or quarantine.
Doubt many people are doing anything in order to ‘get the economy going’. They’re going on holiday, pubs or whatever because that’s personally what they want to do rather than for altruistic reasons.
Yes life must go on.
You sound like the kind of person who would be careful. Many aren’t.
Out for a bimble on the Enfield this afternoon and passed a pub in Baldock with a 30 metre approx queue of probably 18-25 year olds waiting to go in. No social distancing at all.
Eat out and drink out to help out. Oh yes.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
We stopped for fuel (diesel and caffeine) just south of Bergen op Zoom and then drove straight through to France stopping at the Aire de Grande Synthe (not one of the best). Then straight to the Eurotunnel which was all very slick. UK border force asked us if we'd filled in the UK Covid arrival forms online but had no interest in seeing them. And now we're home.
Yes both spots are familiar to me. The wester-ly Aires aren’t as good as the ones on the Route Du Soleil, the road next to Nancy - Dijon - Lyon - Montpellier.
It’s doubtful if we’re still ‘in the middle’
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Exactly my point
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We’ve been in France last week and I actually saw many Brits.We were thinking we might actually get away this summer to a French campsite. There's availability on the campsites and on the Eurotunnel. So far, so good.
Then I remember my passport expires soon. A quick check and it expires in September and we plan to return on 31 August. OK, a bit close but a quick check says it should be fine.
Then I look at any actual travel restrictions that might be in place:
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-ad...y-requirements
And these particular paragraphs:
Entry to France
From 15 June 2020, travellers arriving in France from the UK and wider European Area (EU, Andorra, Holy See, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino and Switzerland) are no longer required to demonstrate their travel is essential or hold an international travel certificate.
Quarantine requirements
Arrivals from the UK and from outside the wider European Area (listed above) are asked to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival in mainland France. This does not apply to arrivals from within the wider European Area. Full details and a list of exemptions to self-quarantine in France are set out in a Ministry of Interior press statement (in French) and its translation (in English).
Travellers showing signs of a COVID-19 infection upon arrival in mainland France will have to carry out a mandatory 14 day quarantine at home or in a dedicated location indicated by the French authorities if home quarantine is not feasible.
Does this mean we are obliged to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival, or are only being asked politely to self-isolate? And why does the gov.uk site say it only applies to those from the UK and outside the EU, but that doesn't seem to be what the French Government statement is saying?
I'm just a little confused
Atmosphere was quite relaxed, a lot of mask wearing though.
Strange to get back in the Netherlands where masks are luckily not mandatory.
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... as in not mandatory YET, I fear...
My oldest went to Paris and he had a mask on every single minute of the day. He only took it off during dinner and I made a point about it: eating outside.
M
What a strange thing to say. Masks are there to protect you and every one who comes near you.
Making wearing them compulsory means that idiots who come near you will drastically cut the risks to your health as opposed to not wearing a mask.
It has been said before: if you don’t like having to breathe through a mask you’re going to really hate having to breathe through a ventilator.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Exactly.
I personally believe more in keeping distance. Which people don’t do anymore when wearing a mask. It creates a sense of safety, which is not there.
That is the consideration of countries where a mask is not mandatory.
Also, I believe they don’t work even a bit. Also, there is no proof for it (in the way people use them now. Ofcourse how they’re used in hospitals works, but we don’t come even near that)
So what appears to you to be strange, doesn’t necessarily have to be ;).
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Nonsense. You will have observed quite a different approach in France. So why spout such twaddle once you are home?
After a dive helmet 6 hours a day, the mask is pretty easy
I’ve no problem wearing a mask if that’s the law but I’ve yet to see any evidence it makes much difference especially as the case rate is so low.
I'm happy to wear a mask, and basic common sense tells me it helps prevent spread as it catches droplets, but it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if in a few months' time they discover that the non-medical masks we're all wearing are actually deadly Covid traps and have helped spread it in other ways, i.e. people reusing multiple times, people touching them all the time, taking them on and off for different situations and locations, etc., etc.
And now France and the Netherlands are added to the non-exempt list.
I reckon the Eurotunnel and ferries are going to be a tad busy for the next 30 hours.
Don't see why there's a delay TBH. If there's an issue bring in quarantine immediately rather than letting possibly infected people travel back freely.
Perhaps it’s to give the “high ups” enough time to get out of Dodge or face 14 days in quarantine, but I agree with you.
It will be interesting to see if Piers Morgan cuts his 6 week holiday in St Tropez short in order to avoid quarantine. I hope not.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
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