Who Checks Up On People Self Isolating After Holiday?

[dave50]

Does anyone check if people who need to self isolate for 14 days after arriving back off holiday are actually doing it?

[New Judge]

//Probably think you have gone out and a fine comes through the post?//

I don’t think so. They have to prove that I’m out. Not getting an answer from my front door and them “thinking” I am out does not do so.

//Are you hiding at that point or do you shout through the door,'I'm here but not opening up'?//

I’m doing neither. I’m indoors reading a book with all the curtains closed.

//How do you know the person you’re answering the door to doesn’t have COVID?//

I don’t. That’s one of the reasons I’m reluctant to answer the door. :-)

The serious point is that this nonsense is unenforceable. Unless they actually intercept me whilst I’m out, enforcement is impossible. If they suspect I’m out when they call they will have to wait outside my house until I return (and even then I may sneak in the back door if I spy them at the front). In my scenario above they’ll wait a very long time. If I really was out, perhaps for the day they would equally be in for a wait. This legislation relies on compliance and I’m not so sure that people coming back from their hols will comply with these draconian measures. The legislation is far more harsh than the March lockdown. It is truly “house arrest.” You cannot leave for exercise; in fact you cannot go out at all except for a very few specific purposes such as to get medical treatment, to partake in legal proceedings and to go shopping “…to obtain basic necessities such as food and medical supplies for those in the same household (including any pets or animals in the household) where it is not possible to obtain these provisions in any other manner.”

It is truly a breathtakingly Draconian piece of legislation, the likes of which I have never seen and hope never to see again. But most of all, apart from being unenforceable unless by pure luck, it is also an extremely blunt instrument. Many of the places from which people will arrive and are expected to isolate have far lower rates of infection than the places they are isolating in. It is a preposterous attempt to be seen to be “doing something”: “Quarantine is ‘something’, so let’s do that.”

I would never normally encourage law breaking but when the law is “a ass” and it is drafted principally by asses it is disreputable and is worthy of the contempt which dd proposes to demonstrate.

[New Judge]

//I'm still keen to know the subtle difference between quarantine, self-isolation and shielding.//

There's not a subtle difference, jd. There is a violent difference. The earlier instructions of self-isolation and shielding were largely advisory. The quarantine legislation places a legal requirement on those returning from abroad to place themselves under house arrest. And it won't do. It won't do at all.

[Deskdiary]

I would be astonished if anybody actually followed this nonsense.

I damn well know I won’t be.

Think about it - if you arrived home from Croatia at 3.59am, you’re fine, but at 4.01am, you’re about to cause the zombie apocalypse.

It is total nonsense.

[Prudie]

I so agree with you NJ @ 1933 and it's very encouraging to know there are at least some like you who view this whole fiasco from a sensible rather than hysterical viewpoint.

To add to who's going to know don't forget to remember the nosy neighbours, there are plenty who will be happy to dob people in.

[Deskdiary]

Sometimes the law is just simply wrong; this is one of those times.

[Gromit]

Good point NJ.

You would not get fined for not answering your door if you were in, that would be preposterous.
The thousands returning from abroad can not be surveilled 24/7, so there is virtually no chance of them getting caught (not quarantining). When there is a massive probability of not getting caught, then that encourages people to ignore the restriction and going out.

[Deskdiary]

There’ll be a clown along shortly to ask me why I think I’m above the law.

[ichkeria]

“ And at what point would you suggest they test? Only at the very end of the 14 days would it be useful surely due to the incubation period?”

??
The incubation period is the delay between infection and showing symptoms. It shouldn’t affect a test.
There are plans to introduce testing points at Heathrow at least. I see no reason why this cannot be fast-tracked. Blanket imposition of quarantine on people after all the fuss about “airbridges” is outrageous. Totally half cocked. But people grin and bear it I suppose because they dont want to be seen to throw a spanner in the works.

[ichkeria]

Just as a follow up, it has always been claimed, presumably rightly, that one is infectious for a max of 14 days after infection.
Of course if that’s wrong then the whole isolation thing is nonsense anyway

[jno]

NJ, they might put a card through your door saying "We called today but you weren't in. We have quarantined your neighbour instead."

[douglas9401]

The official job title of those overseeing isolation matters is:

The Lone Arranger.

Hence the mask.

[Cloverjo]

Lol, jno. ;)) It makes as much sense as everything else the gov has said so far.

[Sqad]

So people coming home from a country where there's evidence of an increase in the number of Covid 19 to the UK,should just wander back home?
No problem,as I would happily "shop" them to the authorities.

[ichkeria]

“Home” is exactly where they do go. Untested, unchecked.
Aside from the whole argument about how much sense it makes anyway to suddenly change the rules for an entire country with no thought given to where the extras infections are occurring, or indeed what the infection rate is at home

[teacake44]

I wouldn't be surprised if Doris, sorry, Cummings came up with the idea of spraying people with an aerosol paint like they do sheep as they pass through the airport. :0)) Hang on, that's a good idea. :0)

[bhg481]

If you're very unlucky they might smash your door in and offer the explanation that they thought you'd caught the disease and were too unwell to call for help.

[teacake44]

You will of course have the choice of red or blue paint.

[New Judge]

//So people coming home from a country where there's evidence of an increase in the number of Covid 19 to the UK,should just wander back home?//

Why not? I can wander freely to and from other parts of the UK where infection rates are much higher than some of the places people return from and are being forced to quarantine. It makes more sense to quarantine me when I return from some places in northern England than it does to quarantine deskdiary when he returns from Mallorca. The legislation is a farce and is placing people under house arrest when no good reason prevails. After all, it's hardly travellers' fault if the government agencies cannot differentiate between Catalonia and the Canaries or Balearics, is it?

[Zacs-Master]

Well said, NJ.

[Gromit]

My area is in re-lockdown - a spike in cases. Many people returning from abroad are coming from a holiday destination with far lower cases than here, and lower than their friends and neighbours - but supposed to lock themselves away for a fortnight on their return.

Not saying they shouldn’t quarantine, just that the arbitrary nature and nonsense of the regs makes it difficult to comply with them.