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Heading to holland, quarantine or not is the question.

Betty67

Betty67

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T6 Ocean 150
Going to holland to visit son who lives their via tunnel along coast through france and belgium probably wont stop until destination in holland, does driving through a country and not stopping in it, deem to have visited it or not? for the sake of 14 days isolation?
No one seems to know?
And are borders monitored?
Any sugestions?
 
I would of thought all borders are monitored, cctv everywhere these days
 
You're not catching any virus on the motorway. No quarantine.
 
Depends how honest you are when the border force ask you where you have been! If you have been to Belgium even if just driving through you are technically travelling from that country. 14 days from you, unless you just say you have come from France
 
Good question - I am doing similar visiting Netherlands

I can’t find official guidance as to whether driving through Belgium non-stop counts for quarantine regulations.

Have therefore booked on Stena Line Harwich to Hook of Holland

Also, It looks like France *may* follow on the quarantine list (e.g. see reports in today's daily mail).
That would be much harder to ignore if you've come via a French port. Fewer borders the better I think.
 
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Going to holland to visit son who lives their via tunnel along coast through france and belgium probably wont stop until destination in holland, does driving through a country and not stopping in it, deem to have visited it or not? for the sake of 14 days isolation?
No one seems to know?
And are borders monitored?
Any sugestions?
Yes you have to quarantine
 
Current FCO advice states:

You’ll still need to self-isolate if you’ve visited or made a ‘transit stop’ in the previous 14 days in any country that is not on the list. A ‘transit stop’ is a stop where passengers can get on or off a coach, ferry, train or plane. Your ticket should say if a stop is a transit stop.



So that could be interpreted that a non-stop drive through may potentially be exempt. But not 100% clear to me.

Has anyone got a link to more specific official advice please?
 
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The other thing to consider is that by going to Belgium, you're going against FCO advice (non-essential travel) so you may well invalidate your insurance
 
So there seems to be a lack of official confirmation on this but... the rule makes no mention of whether your feet have set foot on a countries soil, or whether you have met anyone or other similar behavioral activities, it simply states where you have arrived from and countries you have been in previously.

I have recently traveled from Biarritz in France back to UK via Bilbao in Spain, I left the French campsite that morning and literally did not exit my car until I parked inside the ferry. I did not get out of my car in Spain.

I filled the online form stating I had been in France with no mention of Spain, and explained this to Portsmouth border force. It was made clear to me that I was required to quarantine in UK because I had been in Spain.

So logically, it is ridiculous to quarantine in that circumstance, but legally you are required to do so.

As with all Brits you will no doubt form your own opinion as to whether you will follow the law or act with logic.
 
And as we all know in the post-Cummings19 Era, the law is optional and open to personal interpretation. It is simply a smorgasbord that you can pick and chose from, and the a Government equally will pick at random which ones they will enforce and which ones they will ignore.

In short, do what you want. Everyone else is.
 
And as we all know in the post-Cummings19 Era, the law is optional and open to personal interpretation. It is simply a smorgasbord that you can pick and chose from, and the a Government equally will pick at random which ones they will enforce and which ones they will ignore.

In short, do what you want. Everyone else is.

So if someone mugs an old lady, it’s ok for me to as well ?
 
The practicalities are that before you travel home (eg turn up to the Eurotunnel terminal in Calais) you need to have filled in the gov.uk online Passenger Locator form. On the form you are required to list each country you have visited during your trip and the dates you entered and left it. You also have to provide the details of where you expect to be staying in the UK when you get back.

At the Eurotunnel terminal in Calais they just ask if you have done the form - we flashed them the screens of our phones but they weren't bothered to check the details.

I assume (and it's just an assumption) that the gov.uk system will then alert you to any requirements to quarantine arising from your declared travel history (eg if you get back next week and say you have travelled through Belgium).

However the system is, as far as I can see, completely reliant on the honesty of the declarations you make about where you have been. If you decide that travelling through (say) Belgium without stopping doesn't count as "entering" the country then I imagine the UK Govt would not agree with you, however they are unlikely to detect your absence of declaration.
 
You would probably be stopped at each country border on your journey, as infection rates rise in EU countries, and questioned.
Fortunately many countries/Governments believe/hope that people would do the right thing for the greater good and do as asked. In their calculations they probably take account of the hoped for minority of Dickheads who try to manipulate the system to their advantage.
The alternative is closed borders and enforced quarentine with Police and Armed Forces on the streets.
 
You would probably be stopped at each country border on your journey, as infection rates rise in EU countries, and questioned.

An alternative viewpoint: despite some sub-regional outbreaks (as we have in UK) there isn't much evidence of a generalised rise in infection rates on the Continent. On that basis I think the re-imposition of intra-EU border controls and quarantines is some way off. It hasn't been done (AFAIK) between Spain and France, despite the elevated infection rates in NE Spain which have been ongoing for several weeks now.

This map is from European Centre for Disease Control:
1596797504119.png
 
From Guardian live news feed just now;

The Department for Transport provided more clarity in relation to the quarantine rules for people driving through Belgium.

It said in a statement:

If you travelled from Germany or the Netherlands through Belgium, unless all passengers remained in the car and no-one got out or in for the entire time while transiting through Belgium, you need to self-isolate.

Rail travellers returning to or arriving in the UK on journeys which include a stop in Belgium will also need to quarantine unless no new passengers boarded the train and no-one left it before getting back on.

This means Eurostar passengers travelling from Amsterdam to London will need to self-isolate, as the journey involves a change of trains in Brussels.
 
BBC news post today :

“The Department of Transport has confirmed people travelling through Belgium by car from Germany or the Netherlands to the UK do not need to isolate on arrival so long as all the travellers remained in the car throughout their time in Belgium - including not getting out at service stations.”
 
You can be honest, not stopping from your departure to your destination, but that is only you. If one is not honest, stops everywhere, goes to a pub, doesn't keep his distance, comes at the border and says he didn't stop, shows the invoice of the camping or hotel from one or other country, then he may pass without problem.

The good always have to suffer from the bad. It is always like that.
You can come to Belgium, you can take a walk outside, you can go to a pub or restaurant, as long as your common sense works good, there is no problem.
I live in Belgium, I am going to work every day, I speak to my colleagues, I go shopping, and I am still alive and not ill.
It is not the country you go to, it is how you behave yourself opposed to others.
I am a quite asocial person in real life, so I am not going to big meetings, festivals, cinema's...
If I go on holidays, I want to see as less persons as possible.

But not everyone is like that (luckily), and they are causing the problems with the spreading of the virus.
I didn't like shopping in the first place, but now I really hate it, so I am not going to look for new clothes, or just walk in a shop for looking what they have. I now only go to a shop if really necessary, and only for the time needed to do the purchases.

On topic:
I don't really know the regulations about quarantaine if you just pass a country without stopping.
 
Regulation re transit through a country in a private vehicle are clearly stated on the Govt website. If you don’t stop at any time in the country then you d9 not have to isolate! That is different from what I personally thought, but a little research on the right website is actually pretty clear.
 
I'm struggling to comprehend why people insist on seeking such comprehensive guidance. Just do what you think is the right thing.
 
Possibly because what one person thinks is the right thing is not the same as what another person thinks is the right thing.

And some of the comprehensive guidance is actually an instruction backed by the law, so just doing what you think is right as opposed to what is stated as right could result in punishment.
 
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