covid 19 testing
Switzerland crown jewel June 24. Anyone going? Concerned about covid testing going home to US How does Tauck help setting you up in hotel, food, new plane res, etc.? Traveling with spouse What if one tests positive and one doesn't? Purchased insurance when I booked last year. I know I will have to pay out of pocket and then get reimbursed later I will be purchasing Covid tests from E-Med to take with me (antigen) Approved for delta,American, United., and most other carriers
Any amount of virus with a pcr test will get you a positive test. Antigen test can still detect small amount of virus but if not over a certain viral load will give you a negative test. Staying an extra day in Lucerne, Good or bad Idea? Any thoughts Would be helpful. E-med testing can be done on your smartphone or tablet,.In your hotel room. Load the abbott navica app prior to leaving the US. I will use Tauck testing and maybe use e med testing as a back up. First thing you learn as a health care provider with an abnormal result is REPEAT THE TEST.
Comments
Can't say for this tour, but I recently completed Treasures of the Aegean- 5 people test positive, two were good friends.
Tauck's in-country coordinator arranged for hotel, a Marriott. (it may be a host-country designated quarantine hotel.) Remaining in their room was done via the honor system.
If you test positive, you will need to meet US Gov't and airline requirements for length of quarantine. US is currently 10 days. Tauck arranged for the initial go-home antigen test. Anyone with a positive or in-doubt result had to take a second test- a PCR test this time (both testing is at traveler's expense). Our friends picked up some antigen tests locally, just to monitor their status and give them a better idea when the might go home, so the can book their flights.
For couples, where only one tested positive, they had the choice of one or both staying. If the negative person, subsequently tests positive the quarantine clock starts over at that point so overall the quarantine could be much longer than 10 days. We had one couple like that. We also had one couple where the wife went home and husband went into quarantine. In the third case, one roommate tested positive the other didn't during the initial antigen testing, but both were retested with a PCR test, and both tested positive, so both had to quarantine. The people quarantining in Athens will be allowed to go outside after 5 days - the current Greece requirement.
Tauck will assist with air arrangements if original flights were booked through them. I don't know what happens if original flights were self- booked. You might need to handle the new booking yourself. Call Tauck and ask.
Someone will need to weigh in about the acceptance of E-Med results to go home after testing positive and quarantining. You'll need to bring them from home since you can't get ones accepted by the US overseas.
Don’t the people need to get a certificate of recovery, especially if they remain positive after the ten day quarantine which can happen. A friend recently returned from abroad, she was still positive after ten days but had the certification so she could travel
I may be wrong, but I think the certificate of recovery is just one option only available when you have a known/confirmed date of infection (and may still be testing positive), while a negative test is the other option, in order to fly home.
While it may differ from country to country, I have a question: Other than Tauck, who- gov't, immigration, health agency, etc.- is notified of the positive test results for the return to US test, especially if you use E-Med? Are you put on a "No Fly List" somewhere? Once a traveler who tests positive and is quarantined, but subsequently tests negative in a day or two, what prevents him/her from taking those results, assuming they meet reporting requirements, whatever they are (Dr. signature, QR code, E-Med cert, etc.) to the airport and flying home in less than (10) days? (I won't even go into fraud and using an unscrupulous doctor.)
Essentially, who knows you ever tested positive in the first place? The airlines appear to be the only entity that check any of that stuff (at behest of the US CDC.) Or, is this like how quarantines are being handled in some (most?) countries- on the honor system?
Though I hadn't initially planned to do so, before we left the US for Greece a few weeks ago, I decided to use the "Fly Ready" feature on Delta's website. It allows you to upload passport data (if they don't already have it), vax records, test results, etc., I decided why not. At that time it was not mandatory, but we were asked about it when we checked in for our flights, so it can possibly save a little time and hassle. I suppose. But, all I had to do was take photos of the various certificates and upload them. A "Ready to Fly" confirmation email was generated and our booking file reflected that status. My wife's submission was initially rejected because I inadvertently uploaded my vax page to her file. I received an email saying the names didn't match, so evidently someone at Delta looks at the submissions or they have good software that does it.
I sure everyone will be glad when all of this goes away!
I read here on the forum for Portugal you need to get a certificate signed by a doctor at a clinic to state the date you test positive. I told my friend who tested positive there, so she was able to get one and her quarantine officially started that date. That is why, even though she still tested positively at the end of the quarantine, she was able to fly with a certificate of recovery back to the US….not that anyone asked to see it when she arrived back here.
That matches with the first condition I tried to explain, but, again, what would have happened if your friend tested negative on say, Day 3 of her quarantine? Especially if she tested negative using a different doctor who didn't know her history or used a certified E-med test? Could she have gone home then?
I'll ask our friends in quarantine in Athens if they have a doctor's cert for the day they tested positive- we were all tested by the Wind Star's doctor the day before debarkation. Those who tested negative received certificates signed by him. If there was not a form generated for those who tested positive, I'm sure one can be easily generated. Especially since they were also given PCR tests to confirm the initial antigen tests. Our friends are on Day 5 of quarantine and one of them has already started to test negative using pharmacy antigen tests. The other has a very faint "positive" stripe.