People who wish to travel to Orkney, as Scotland eases its Covid restrictions, are being asked to take 2 tests before travelling.
In her update on Scotland’s Covid restrictions, FM Nicola Sturgeon, made particular mention for island communities. She asked that 2 tests are taken which would indicate visitors were Covid free before travelling into our communities and potentially bringing the highly infectious virus to our islands.
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Personally I think it should be a requirement, not a request.
Learn from New Zealand and the Isle of Man. Please!
Fully agree! ‘Encouragement’ may often not be enough. Given the practicalities of travelling to (also from) the isles with pre-booking requirements (which I hope remain in place!) I wonder what happens if someone booked a domestic flight (commonly people do not buy travel insurance for domestic flights) which they would have to cancel on very short notice if they tested positive. So perhaps at least a hundred or so quid could go down the drain… surely this will rather be a deterrent for many to take the test and act accordingly? Without mandatory tests therefore this is bound to fail…
On a more positive note: Just to be on the safe side in case I have to travel (which I hope to avoid at all costs!!!) to help my elderly parents moving, I have just ordered such a test kit. The process of ordering is simple and quick, no costs associated and although it is likely that it won’t arrive within the 2 days stated because Orkney is a bit remote, it is good to get them over the next week or so just in case a test result is needed on short notice.
What is not so ideal and would put a questionmark behind some of the government’s statistics, it says on the ScotGov website: ‘If you have someone on the shielding list in your household or are planning to travel to a Scottish island, select ‘yes’ when the site asks if you were asked to get tested by a local authority or by an NHS Public Health team’. This would suggest that potential travellers are included in stats where they do not really belong…
Well, we will soon find out whether the government’s strategy works.
Happy to do this,delighted that after being unable to visit last year that I will be able to visit in June 🤞