Crete off UK quarantine list

[DJ]

Just announced !

[Kilkis]

Perhaps they have realised that it all seems a bit silly to be restricting people coming from an area with a maximum infection rate of between 10 and 49 per 100,000 in a 10 day period "to protect the UK population" when the average in the UK is over 400 per 100,000 in a 7 day period.

The UK also produces a map showing regional distribution. While the lowest rate shown on the Greek map is 0-4 per 100,000 in a 10 day period the lowest category in the UK per 100,000 in a 7 day period is just <190. To slightly misquote the film version of HG Wells' "War of the Worlds":

The chances of COVID coming from the UK are a million to one they said ... but still they come.

Warwick

[chrissyg]

How annoying, just finished my quarantine too!
Why on earth arent the greeks banning the Uk like before? Makes no sense. Also, if the UK are going down the local lockown route then it makes no sense to allow travel outside those areas unless it is for work. They'll be going outside their restricted areas to go to pubs!( or going on holiday to Crete)

[Kilkis]

You are completely correct that using regional restrictions only works if people do not move between regions. I think the big problem is enforcement, Chrissy. People in the highest tier are told that they must not go outside the area where that tier applies but a percentage of people will ignore that just as a percentage ignore the instruction to self isolate. If there is no effective enforcement and people realise that there is no effective enforcement then the percentage will be quite high. It is made worse if they can go outside the region for some reasons but not for others. They begin to suspect that there is some other motivation behind the rules and that leads to higher non-compliance.

There is also the "Well, that won't matter" psychology. Of the people who didn't obey self isolating rules, a very large number broke them by "Just popping to the supermarket" because "Well, that won't matter".

Another psychological trait is "That doesn't make any sense". Someone is forbidden from doing X but they are not forbidden from doing Y, which doesn't make any sense, so they will ignore the instruction to not do X. An example of this thinking is in Northern Ireland where people can gather together to attend a church service but they can't gather together to eat a meal in a restaurant or meet some other people at home. That doesn't seem to make any sense to them so they ignore the rules. In many cases there might be a suspicion that the people making the rules have crafted them to suit their own religious beliefs and not based on scientific information.

Warwick

[chrissyg]

Wales is annoyed with Boris for just making the non travel thing 'guidance' rather than one of the 'rules' and has made its own rules about not letting people from 'high risk' areas in England in. Tricky to enforce but they are apparently taking car reg numbers on main roads in. I live near the border and shop in Wales, luckily not in or to high risk areas ( yet). It is all getting obviously more political, especially the travel regarding other countries, even more than it has been.

[BST]

Yes Wales has banned people going on foreign holidays. The wording is. "You may be disappointed...." I'd be bloody furious! I doubt if they'll get their money back.

[Maud]

I made the same comment as you about people travelling to Kriti from the U.K. on another thread Chrissyg. I do hope the Greek Government does something about restricting entry to the country soon, otherwise over half term the island will be inundated with visitors from Northern Europe, - where the virus is multiplying by the hour!

The problem at the moment BST is that if people book a holiday anywhere since Covid 19 has been recognised, the chances are that their travel insurance will not cover them for a cancelled trip. (There are a few exceptions.....but you pay heavily for them). Our daughter and her family had two visits to Greece booked for 2020, but booked prior to March. Both have been refunded by her insurance. Over this October half term she has booked a cottage in Yorkshire. (She lives in the South of the U.K.). She accepts that if there is a lockdown/circuit breaker she will lose her money, but not having had a holiday at all this year it is a chance she is prepared to take.

People know what risks they are running when they book to go anywhere these days.......within or outside of the U.K. It is how life is for now. - If you don’t want to lose any money, don’t take the risk.