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Curfews, mandatory vaccinations, conflicting opinions. As variants like Delta spread, regulations and restrictions are popping up across the continent and staying informed would possibly seem like a job.
By Ceylon Yeginsu
When Europe reopened its borders to Americans in mid-June, it promised a summer of relative normalcy, with American tourists boarding transatlantic flights and returning walking freely through the squares of the continent’s cities.
Americans are back, but, driven through the highly contagious Delta variant, so are the restrictions.
In Greece and Spain, some regions have reinstated evening curfews and socialization regulations to involve a sharp buildup of coronavirus infections among other young people. France, which is battling a fourth wave of the virus, is asking others to provide vaccination tests or a negative coronavirus check in restaurants, bars, grocery stores and public transport. Italy will introduce a similar mandate in August, requiring at least one dose of vaccine or a negative check-up result for social activities, adding visits to museums.
“This is not the same old summer in Europe, where you can move from one country to another without worries without preparation or planning,” said Adrian Kelsey, a market research analyst in New York, who traveled to Greece last month with an organization. of friends to celebrate their 40th anniversary. birthday.
“There is a smart possibility that things will be replaced or something will go wrong, and you have to agree with this truth before you decide on the outside,” he added.
For Kelsey, the upheavals began before she boarded her flight from New York to Athens. He was so focused on finalizing the main points of his itinerary on the Greek islands that he forgot to fill out a passenger location form that will have to be submitted within a day before a passenger’s expected arrival in Greece.
“They didn’t need to let me get on the plane,” he said with an embarrassed laugh. “All my friends made it and I stayed and had to pay six hundred dollars to replace my flight the next day. It was like a bad streak. ” he recalls.
As Kelsey found, documenting the effects of vaccination or negative testing is a key component of the experiment. More and more European countries, in addition to France and Italy, are expanding the use of their virtual fitness cards to allow access to restaurants, bars and cultural sites. .
Entering the Louvre, for example, requires only a reservation, but also evidence that you have been vaccinated or tested negative for the virus in the last 48 hours or that you have had the coronavirus and recovered. Europeans can show their virtual fitness cards, while Americans must bring their vaccination cards or verify the results.
What complicates matters further is the fact that regulations are frequently replaced. In Spain, evening curfews that prohibit other people from leaving between 1 a. m. and the 6 a. m. se reintroduced in some places last week, adding Barcelona.
“If you came here to celebrate, it might be disappointing, but if you’re here for food, beaches and cultural activities, the restrictions don’t affect you,” said Mallory Hill, 37, a Seattle banker who travels through Catalan. region over the next two weeks with his family.
“What’s scary is the speed with which cases are spreading here and the tendency of other vaccinated people to get sick. But there’s also a lot of incorrect information and conflicting advice, so it’s hard to know if we deserve to stay or go home. “”, he said. ” It looks pretty bad everywhere. “
Even some official recommendations may be contradictory. On July 26, the U. S. Department of State was in the U. S. State Department of State. U. S. It issued a series of “do not travel” warnings for Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Britain due to the rising number of coronavirus cases in those countries, bringing the precautionary point to 4, the highest. Days after that warning, the British government announced that fully vaccinated Americans could simply not have to quarantine.
Visiting Britain can also be difficult, as it uses a complex ‘traffic light’ formula that determines restrictions based on the country from which you are travelling. The list also fits both once and 3 weeks, or earlier, depending on the state of the city. coronavirus at destination.
So while Americans who come directly from the U. S. U. S. They do not have to quarantine, if they go to France for the first time, they will be required to quarantine for 10 days and pass several tests due to considerations about the prevalence of the beta variant in that country.
Moving from Britain to the countries of the European Union is no easier. A number of developing countries in the bloc have imposed more measures on Britain’s travellers, adding PCR and quarantine controls, due to the maximum rate of the Delta variant in Britain. All visitors travelling from Britain to Italy will be required to provide a negative Covid-19 check prior to departure, be quarantined for five days upon arrival and provide any other negative checks at the end of their isolation period.
“Before visiting Europe, I was visiting several countries to assess it for a long time,” Hill said. “But now I think it makes sense to decide on a single position and stick to it, because restrictions are being reintroduced everywhere, even among European countries. “
Understanding all of this may draw attention and the American Society of Travel Advisors claims to have noticed an 81% increase in interest in recommendations from potential travelers about the ever-changing rules.
“We tell our consumers to be patient because regulations are constantly becoming and there’s a lot of misinformation, so patience is key,” said Jennifer Wilson-Buttigieg, co-chair of Valerie Wilson Travel, a New Yorker. travel-based consulting firm.
“We don’t need other people to overreact, we need them to know the facts,” Wilson-Buttigieg continued. “This is a global fitness crisis and it’s not just about looking at the infection rates in each country, it’s about detecting that you may have a bad fitness and it’s vital to have a verbal exchange with an advisor to find out what your threat tolerance is and the most productive options possible for you. “
Jennifer Collett, 38, a Boston therapist, dreamed of visiting seven European countries this summer and then contacted an advisor for advice.
“It was the most productive thing I did because it gave me the truth I needed,” he said. “The pandemic is not over and traveling through a long era is confusing and risky. He told me to decide on a position. ” and I chose Paris and went there in June.
At the time, Ms. Collett said she faced restrictions, but found it helpful to prepare for capacity restrictions in museums and the types of insurance they would pay to repatriate her if she became ill.
“Everything is so unpredictable with this pandemic that it’s actually helpful to have a guide, even if they’re not physically with you on your trip,” he said.
Kelsey, who travelled to Greece with her friends, feels fortunate to have controlled to make the previous instances begin to increase in Europe and new restrictions were put in place, specifically on the island of Mykonos, known for its festive atmosphere, which they visited. weeks before music was banned and the night curfew was reinstated (restrictions have since been lifted).
“We had a great time and we didn’t get Covid, that’s all you can ask for,” he said. “But things are different now and it is much more difficult to know where to go so as not to suddenly restrict. “
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