A firend of mine has bitten the bullet and decided to fly out to Spain on Friday for two weeks holiday and riding. On his return, the Government directive to quarantine for 14 days. My question is has anyone in the same situation been contacted by the Covid Police on their return, asking for a friend obviously.
I am currently quarantined since Sunday and will stick to it apart from going to the supermarket in about 30 minutes for some essentials.
My mum is in Wales, my in-laws are quarantined and my wife & kids are still in Spain with her brother who lives there.
I know someone who went to a pub on the 12th day of quarantine and got a Ā£1000 fine. I suppose if you are going to flout it, donāt go somewhere you have to sign in. Or donāt sign in with your real name 
Iāll be staying in for 2 weeks though as my neighbours are COVID nazis.
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I would also say that the online form you fill in for quarantine on return to the UK wasnāt actually checked at the airport so you could not fill it in and they wouldnāt know how to contact you or when you returned.
Again, if you wanted to flout it.
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If ātheyā are going to flout the law at least have the decency to get a test, so that the risk to others is minimised
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Had to quarantine in early July, didnāt get contacted. Know tens of other people who have quarantined and nobody has been contacted.
We were travelling from an area with very few cases, and we got tested and came back negative a few days after we returned (my wife is a key worker and her employer asked for us to be tested).
Have to admit that after abiding 100% by the quarantine rules for a week, we decided to flout them a little bit in the second week and go for local rural walks on the basis that:
a) there was zero risk of us spreading it since we had negative tests, werenāt going anywhere near anybody else and werenāt going into any buildings
b) seemed zero chance of getting caught as we werenāt going anywhere we needed to sign in, werenāt driving anywhere so couldnāt have our plate picked up by a camera, etc. And the government website at the time actually said āif you get caught more than once breaking quarantine you can be finedā which is kind of like giving permission to do what you want until you get caught onceā¦
c) Our neighbours really couldnāt care less, most people in our village expressed astonishment that quarantine actually meant not leaving your property, let alone that we were actually planning on following it, General view around here is to take COVID seriously but apply common sense
d) We (me, wife, children, dog. The fish were OKā¦) were all going stir crazy, so eventually took the view that going out for some exercise was sufficiently necessary for physical and mental health to count as āessentialā
Didnāt ride my bike, stuck to training indoors for the full 2 weeks (then did a century on Day 15!).
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Iāll be staying in for the 14 days - I have no desperate need to drive to Barnard Castle!
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I think itās a really mixed bag as to whether you get checked or not. As people have said above, I know 10+ people who have been quarantining and not been contacted. That said, a friend ignored the phone call from them 2/3 times and eventually got a knock on the door to confirm he was at home.
Another friend got a call in the morning to confirm he was quarantining then decided to go for a drive later on, he got pulled over by the police for an unrelated matter and they didnāt clock that he was meant to be in isolation.
Moral of the story, if you are sensible then Iām sure itās fine. Iād isolate for the first 4/5 days, get a test after 7 to confirm you are clear and then be a bit more flexible in the second week.
If Iām honest, I have pretty strong views about this. Without the intention of stirring up a hornets nest, we are in the midst of a global pandemic of proportions not seen in our lifetime. Government guidelines change without warning. Ask the question āIs this really the time for a foreign holiday?ā
As a doctor in the UK, I formed the view that it if I went on holiday this year and had to quarantine on my return, who would do my job? I felt a responsiblity to my patients and employer.
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I completely understand that view and respect it, especially given your job.
I went to stay in a villa in the middle of nowhere and had less contact with people than I would have in England. My in-laws who we go with are 81 & 83 and John may not have many more holidays in him so they wanted to go and I was happy to. I work from home so no impact on my company or clients.
From what I saw in my 16 days away, Iād rather be in Spain than over here, it is much safer where I was and people are more respectful. The village nearest to where we stay has had 1 case of Covid-19. 1 case. No deaths.
Iād have stayed longer (my boss said I could stay as long as I want) if the WIFI at the villa wasnāt terrible.
Arenāt there something like 550 people in the UK in a hospital with CV19? 2 people per 100,000 in my town with it, no recent deaths. Iām not making light of it and Iām certainly abiding by quarantine laws because they are laws, but I think there has been an over-reaction. We should have kept the older people safe and let younger people carry on whilst observing social distancing.
Every single one of my close friends and family here has invited me round this week or offered to come round, but we arenāt allowed. All apart from my mum but she is 75 and I wouldnāt want to see here, Iāve only sat in her garden twice since March.
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Iām currently in France, and due to return back on Saturday.
Despite the inconvenience, Iāll be serving the quarantine in full, though with a 5 month old baby boy and a 4 year old daughter, my sanity will be tested somewhat.
The social distancing, and mask wearing and general covid prevention measures have been pretty lax, but with restaurants being packed with no social distancing measures, service stations running out of soap, hand sanitiser and also no social distancing measures followed in supermarkets and attractions, to the point where I think it would have been difficult for me not to be exposed if others were infectious.
I was seeing people kissing other people on the cheeks in greeting while wearing masksā¦
Comparatively, covid prevention discipline seems much better in the UK, though that might not be the case on my return! I think an ingrained cultural tolerance to queuing and waiting patiently helps in social distancing.
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Sounds the opposite of where I was in Spain (obv I canāt speak to Catalonia where the āspikesā have been)
I was due to go to Ventoux next Weds for 5 days but that is off now as I donāt fancy flying down the mountain 3 times with invalid insurance!
For the guys not quaranting, what if you did have it (whether symptomatic or not), passed it to someone else who was either ill, died, or in turn passed it onto others?
Iām not going to cast judgement as donāt know your situation or mental state, but the virus doesnāt spread itself.
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You are either quarantining or your not, you cant go to the supermarket and quarantine, just like you cant be a little bit dead.
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100% agree with this view. We are in the middle of a pandemic.
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Oh ok Iāll starve to death then. Cheers for that.
I went at 9:45pm just before it shut so there was nobody there. Best I could do. 1 visit for fresh veg, the butchers delivered all my meat.
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Do whats right for the country, do the quarantine.
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Well, reduced perhaps. Minimised would be doing quarantine.
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Yes, should have phrased it as reduced.
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Every supermarket in the UK does home delivery, you wont starve in one day, and IF you had any friends at all they could shop for you. As no one was there tell me which supermarket it was so I can go rob the place,
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