heritagestanley

What C.2s said is that you have to quarantine for 10 days if you come into close contact with someone who tests positive, not quarantine for 10 days whatever. My reading of the current UK rules is that, provided you don't have such close contact, you only have to stay in quarantine until you receive a negative result fom the PCR test that you will have booked prior to travelling (or, of course, if you yourself test postive). So if you organise a test on the day you arrive, and choose a company that delivers quick results, you could be free in under two days

Geordieborn

... of course with covid everything and anything could change before March (or even next week)!

C.2s

Thanks for the various comments (I was wondering if I was going mad for a while there). Yes this whole thread is about what happens if you are in close contact with a person who tests positive for the virus.

For traveling the rules keep changing, so there's little point worrying about March In detail yet. But if you want to prepare then in principle there are 4 points that have been pretty much consistent between the UK and Italy (travel to and from other countries is different). They are:

1. Vaccine status (so being vaccinated up to date makes travel easier)
2. Who you have had contact with (so avoiding contact with someone who is positive or not being in a high risk area makes travel possible)
3. A negative test (either on/after arrival or pre-departure)
4. A self declaration and contact details form (it's not possible to travel without this)

If you think about it point 4 exists so that the authorities CAN contact you and you MUST then follow the rules. That's what the declaration that you signed actually says.

So yes, it's entirely possible that someone could travel to the UK and then find themselves unable to return to Italy until they have tested negative and/or complied with the relevant COVID regulations...I think that this is something worth bearing in mind, and maybe making SOME plans for. But not overreacting.

For example, two weeks ago we travelled to the UK for 3 days and therefore left our cat behind with an automatic feeder. But we spoke to a neighbour and left a key and cat food in case we tested positive and had to stay in the UK longer. Seems like a reasonable precaution to me. You could be delayed for many reasons when travelling, and this isn't much different.

On the other hand Italy could close the borders to all travel if there was a sudden uptake in the virus, and you could be stuck abroad for months... it's unlikely, but not impossible (as we've seen other countries have done that)... and I don't think there's a lot of preparation we can do as individuals in this scenario. After all that could also happen if another Icelandic volcano erupts! So I would just personally think that we have to get on with things and only worry about what we can control... so I wouldn't worry about a trip in March just yet