I have covid can I fly after my 10 days isolation

You may be understanderbly worried, but really you don't have a choice - Current rules say you must take a test within 3 days before travel from Spain.

- UK Gov is reviewing travel requirements - rules below may change prior to your flight

Amber list rules

What you must do if you have been in a country or territory on the amber list in the 10 days before you arrive in England.

Before you travel to England you must:

• take a COVID-19 test – you must take the test in the 3 days before you travel to England
• book and pay for COVID-19 tests – to be taken after arrival in England
• complete a passenger locator form

Hi Karen 

This is a very real problem that gets very little mention in the media.

You cannot board a flight back home unless you have a Covid Test certificate that is negative.

If you test positive, while abroad, you have to cancel your return travel, extend your accommodation, car hire, insurance and make new arrangements.

The nightmare scenario is that, after doing all that, you may still be Covid positive after 10 days, and have to do it all over again . . . . some people do not get rid of the infection for several weeks, however, that is relatively unusual if you are normally fit and healthy . . . . but there are no guarantees.

Touch wood you will be fine this time around.

Let us know how you get on.

Best regards 

Philip

Apparently you can test positive for up to 90 days so best to look into it before flying. 

That is a possibility, however, I think that is quite rare and hopefully Karen will not remain positive for that long.

Booking return flights is a problem and may result in wasted expenditure but each person has to balance their urgency to fly and the expense of delaying the flight.

A few weeks ago, in mid-July 2021, Ryanair tickets from Malaga to Luton were only £9.99 plus extras for luggage and numbered seats, however, you can just pay the basic fare and then pay for the extras 3 days before the flight, if and when you get a negative Covid test certificate.

By the way, don't waste your time and money trying to change your flight to another date with Ryanair.  Their pricing is based on the fact that you are a captive passenger, like a fish caught in their net, and it is cheaper to simply book another flight ticket. EasyJet are not much better.

I found that Ryanair wanted £65 odd to 'manage my booking' online and change the flight but I could book the same flight for £35 by just making new booking. There is an article about that in The Guardian. 

You have to think of Ryanair bookings as a one off service and, if not used, dispose or and forget about the booking. You cannot negotiate with Ryanair and have to play their game by their rules.

Ryanair are cowboys who think that they are above the law.  You can take Ryanair to Court, and most passengers win, but it rarely is cost effective to do so.  Occasionally, the Civil Aviation Authority will do that for you, and they do win!

Thank you for the reply I have decided to cancel till next year not worth the risk.

Hi Karen 

The situation is also quite volatile with both Spanish and UK governments changing requirements with very little notice.  

Currently, there are 4 variants that governments are trying to control the spread of because the vaccines are NOT very effective against them.

SAGE scientists predict that it is probable that there will be new variants.  The also predict that is possible that new variants could have a much higher death rate.  

SAGE have mentioned that a new variant could have the same death rate as the SARS death rate of 10% and/or the MERS death rate of 35% . . . . so that possibility is on the horizon because it has happened in the past.  

SARS and MERS were both caused by Coronaviruses, however, we are fortunate that they were both contained and did not spread globally.  A virus that kills its host will usually die too and, therefore, will not be a 'successful' virus.  Most viruses adapt to co-exist with their hosts but that can take hundreds or even thousands of years. 

We are fairly cautious, however, at the end of June, we travelled from the UK to Casares for 16 days and we tested negative both journeys were uneventful although arrived back just before the 19 July 2021 relaxation of isolation but still had to isolate.  

In mid-August we have planned another trip, however, we will be staying in our own home so extending the stay 10 days will not be too traumatic and most of my work is now done from home so it would not be a major disruption.

It all depends on an individuals circumstances, how important it is to travel, is it just recreational or do you need to meet someone or carry out repairs to your property, whether you can tolerate an extended stay, the cost of extending your stay and whether you can afford all these additional costs.

Insurance ought to be available to cover all these costs because only a very small percentage of travellers will experience these problems, however, it seems that a great deal of insurers are introducing small print so that they will not have to pay out.