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The three lab tests that would prove I do not have Covid and therefore am not a risk? The same extra steps that the UK government have themselves set out?
Your point about ICU beds is totally moot, too, because if I was carrying the virus I would not be allowed into England, let alone Wales. As OP says, once I have proved that I am not a risk, what is the difference between me going to Wales and Joe Bloggs from Bristol or Brighton?
The rules are there for a reason- to protect us. Drakeford said hed rather wait a few more weeks in which time, a greater percentage the population would have been vaccinated. His more cautious approach has been shown to be effective. Boris's less cautious approach has him ignore the scientists in the autumn who advised a lockdown, and him allowing a 10 day window for travellers to enter the country from India, bringing the Delta variant with them.
If you think its Wales's quarantine rules that are stupid, and not England's, then previous experience would suggest it's the other way around.
A rigorous debate overnight and thanks to all for that. Full disclosure on our thinking / planning to return home at this time; it‘s been suggested that we delay a while which is understandable but more than an irritation; the main purpose is to visit the in-laws, both in their nineties and who the missus hasn’t seen in 2 years. They’ve battled well in the last 18 months, have had 2 vaccinations each and are extremely safety-conscious themselves. Also, the missus works at a university here so her next opportunity for a visit is not until Xmas.
Full disclosure on our plans:-
• As mentioned we’ve had 2 x Pfizer vaccinations administered in April and May;
• We are required to travel with a negative test result less than 72 hours old;
• We’re flying Icelandair who require all travelers regardless of origin to show a certificate of full vaccination and also require masks to be worn throughout the flight. Iceland is on UK’s green list of countries;
• We are on the ground for a 90-miute layover in Reykjavik but do not leave airside;
• We arrive Heathrow and will go through UK immigration checks and procedures;
• We’ll have a rental car booked and will travel direct to our family hosts in England to where three-pack testing kits will have been sent to comply with days 2, 5 and 8 tests required by UK government.
• Our family hosts live in a rural area with low infection rates and have had one vaccination and possibly a second by the time we arrive.
• Assuming the required tests show negative we would be free to leave quarantine after day 5 and travel anywhere in England.
Now we get to the point of my original post – the different rules currently in place in England and Wales. After day 5 our plans will be flexible, circumstances and rules in both countries could well have changed for the better with a further relaxation of restrictions. Otherwise we could just stay in England or perhaps visit the old folks but stay outdoors and at distance.
But why is Wales not satisfied with the day 5 release given all the other precautions having been observed? Merely in the interests of caution I suggest because the data is the same as in England and Wales have the best figures in the four home nations.
If we go we will arrive having proven we are not carrying the virus which is better than can be said for 63% of Wales' population that is not fully vaccinated; today's figures : https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-55855220 )
Sorry but no matter how you dress it up or explain your circumstances (which I am sure are very similar to many other peoples situation), the fact remains that if you come into Wales at the end of the five day test and release in England, you are breaking the rules of the Welsh Government that are set in place to protect its population. The facts that over 50% of the people of Wales have not had a second jab and that you have no idea whether the Pfizer jabs you have had have worked fully on you or not, means that you are putting yourselves and other people at risk.
Exactly. You have spent money, and days of your lives, to prove that you don't carry the virus. You have clearly done more than the vast majority of the population of Wales to determine that you personally pose no threat. I don't really understand why you'd seek vindication from this messageboard for ignoring what appears to be an inexplicable deviation from UK govt policy as regards crossing a "border", but for what it's worth you have mine. I drove from England to Wales a few days ago. We take regular lateral flow tests in our house and they all came up negative, but it didn't occur to me to take any additional testing before I crossed the bridge. And in my personal experience, the observance of social distancing/mask wearing is no better in Cardiff than it is in London. I don't feel I owe the people of Wales any greater duty of care than the people of England. I obviously wear my mask everywhere etc and get tested (lateral flow) days before going in to town centres etc, but the idea that I up my game when I come to Cardiff is lunacy. And even my cautious approach is positively cavalier compared to yours, which is to prove that you are no threat; waste some time in a hotel; prove it again; and then leave.
Although I do think you over-estimate the relevance of vaccination vs testing at an individual level. Assuming that you are not a carrier because you've had the vaccine is dangerous; but two PCR tests spread over a few days demonstrating that you dont have it is about as conclusive as we will get. In other words: vis a vis Dave in Spott who presumably doesn't take a PCR test every few days, you pose a far lesser threat to the fine folk of this country.
i) I don't believe that was the point of the original post, unless you were working extremely hard not to have this thread moved to the politics section.
ii) Don't forget your quote in the OP: "England, however, also offers a day 5 quarantine release by purchasing an additional test and if that shows negative you've bought yourself out of quarantine (that's seems stupid but anyway...)"
iii) I still don't understand why you're not stating your intention to only come into close contact with as small a group of people as possible, totally avoid public transport and stay outside enjoying the Welsh summer. That would get vast majority on side - most of us want you, or people we know in your shoes, to come but want those people breaking the rules to show understanding of additional risk they're potentially creating and show understanding for all those locals who've sacrificed throughout the past year. At the moment all you're saying is why you shouldn't have to be mindful for locals which isn't great.
Im not a great fan of Drakeford as you know. He annoys me by making political capital whenever he can. Recently he was on air saying were had the best vaccination rates in the world!!
Lots of comments that we are doing better than England.
However the facts are that since the start of the pandemic the incidence per capita England 0.7% of the population, Wales 0.7%
Death rate from those getting Covid. England 2.8%, Wales 2.6%
So whatever 'the stupid quarantine rules in Wales'. there is nothing to choose between us and England when you measure outcomes
What facts? The only one out of those quoted where England are doing better than Wales is in the double dose vaccines and, if I wanted to, I could argue that the second vaccine is a higher priority over the border because of the increased presence of the Indian variant following the decision to allow travel between the two countries in the spring.
What is clear is that the widespread assumption in this thread that the UK Government is dealing with the pandemic correctly and the Welsh Government isn’t is not backed up by stats produced by a self confessed Drakeford basher.
Although I’ve not bothered checking the claim, there’s been stories saying Wales has the best vaccine rates in the world for weeks hasn’t there? As for Drakeford making capital, that’s what politicians do isn’t it? You get Torys bringing the vaccine roll out into conversations about, for example, defence spending and you can understand it in a way because it is something that they’ve generally reckoned to have make a success of.
My OP by the way should say the incidence since the pandemic began is 7%( not0.7) and its the same for England and Wales
As far as vaccinations go I did mention those fully vaccinated ( 2 jabs) at 43% for England and 39% for Wales.
Yes, politicians do make political capital but how can he say we have the best rates in the world when we haven't.
The basic facts are that the incidence of Covid and the death rates England v Wales overall are virtually identical despite people arguing on this board that one is better than the other
Drakeford doesn't have any control over how many vaccines he gets. He does though know his supply numbers a few days in advance of what England get.
What he does have control over is the distribution and administering of what he does get, which potentially helped him to achieve the numbers and rates he has.
Drakeford knows he will get the population share for Wales of the UK contract as agreed. The AZ vaccine goes through England then on to Wales. The Pfizer vaccine goes direct to Wales from Pfizer so Wales has direct contact with the manufacturer. The Moderna vaccine also goes direct to the Wales distributor, whoever that is, so agin direct contact with the manufacturer.
No according to this.
Lag in figures at the bottom
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-55855220
If that's correct, and it looks like it is, then I apologise. So what's happening is that Wales is publishing official data daily showing the number of vaccinations administered on our official public health websites and it is inaccurate? So the data published for 5 June is for jabs given on 31 May??..Yet the politicians in Wales see the complete picture in real time?
And more puzzling is that the data shows the weekend fall offs in number of jabs given that you would normally expect. I note the BBC says GPs reporting data, so maybe all the data done in Community hubs is in real time??
Seems to me Wales is prioritising all adults getting a vaccine over delivering second ones at the moment - possibly because we haven’t been that hard hit by the Indian variant up to now:-
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-57385909