Returned from overseas, do I self-isolate?

[wandle]

Can’t find an answer on the latest Royal Mail Q&A on my specific situation.
I got back from a long-planned holiday yesterday, from a country that has only a tiny percentage of deaths/cases of coronavirus that the uk has.
UK Government advice says nothing about going into self-isolation, but I would have thought that would be a sensible precaution. The official advice is to ‘go straight home from the airport, and to avoid public transport if possible’.
We did not have our temperature taken at our departure airport, the stopover airport, or on arrival at Heathrow. I am concerned, though, that despite wearing face-masks, we were in confined spaces (aircraft cabins) with many other travellers, any one of whom may have been infected but not yet showing symptoms.
I’m due back at work on Tuesday but concerned for my colleagues. If I HAVE unknowingly contracted the virus, by the time I start to see symptoms I will likely have been at work for several days.
If I stay off work, I don’t fit into the category of ‘self-isolating because of coronavirus symptoms’ or ‘off-sick with confirmed coronavirus’. I can’t find any answer to whether I’m entitled to stay away from work as a precaution, whether that time would be paid and whether it would be treated as standard sick absence (and having the absence counted towards the attendance procedure).
Other countries have taken a much tougher stance, to minimise risk to others, e.g. taking returning travellers to prepared accommodation and quarantining them for 14 days.
What to do?

[daveyeff]

i was under the impression all holiday travel was banned? and how the hell on earth would an aircraft full of travelers be allowed to land when the country is on lockdown?

[Janet Brum]

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavir ... on-advice/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Call 111 if you cannot get help online

[wandle]

i was under the impression all holiday travel was banned? and how the hell on earth would an aircraft full of travelers be allowed to land when the country is on lockdown?

Some people left before the lockdown was in place. All passengers on my flight had to show their uk passport or proof of residency before being allowed into the departure lounge. The U.K. government is, in my opinion, being incredibly naive. Yes, of course uk citizens have the right to return home, but I’m astonished that they haven’t followed the example of Australia, who’ve not given returning citizens a choice. They compelled them to go into enforced quarantine, after it was found that many of their cases of coronavirus were imported by returning travellers, or contracted by people who had contact with those individuals.
We had our temperatures checked on arrival (well before last lockdowns were in place. We also had to show proof that we’d been in the U.K. in the 14 days prior to arriving, in the form of bank transactions and/or recent photos with the location imbedded (many smartphones do this automatically). This was sensible as they wanted to be sure people hadn’t come via a country where cases were already rampant. The U.K. has no such measures, somewhat alarmingly.

(Incidentally, if you go to https://www.flightradar24.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; you’ll see they are more flights still operating than you might imagine)

[daveyeff]

i find it astonishing that all of the passengers were not put in quarantine.

[Woody Guthrie]

All you can do is follow the government guidance which basically means you attend work until such times you or a member of your household has symptoms.

Whether the government has it right or not is a different matter and if you feel strongly you can stay at home but you would only be entitled to sick pay if you or a member of your household has symptoms.

[SpacePhoenix]

(Incidentally, if you go to https://www.flightradar24.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; you’ll see they are more flights still operating than you might imagine)

A good chunk of them could well be just cargo only

[wandle]

i find it astonishing that all of the passengers were not put in quarantine.

So do I, and I was one of them!
If I had been forced into quarantine, then I would
a) have no problem with that, and
b) be able to tell my line manager, if asked ‘why have you not returned to work’, that I was complying with the law

[wandle]

All you can do is follow the government guidance which basically means you attend work until such times you or a member of your household has symptoms.

Whether the government has it right or not is a different matter and if you feel strongly you can stay at home but you would only be entitled to sick pay if you or a member of your household has symptoms.

Thanks, that’s what I intend to do, as I have no symptoms. I do feel the government is wrong to not insist on returnees being quarantined, though

[A2B]

i was under the impression all holiday travel was banned? and how the hell on earth would an aircraft full of travelers be allowed to land when the country is on lockdown?

There's 3000 people ro be brought back from India so flights are still ongoing to certain airports

[wallop]

i was under the impression all holiday travel was banned? and how the hell on earth would an aircraft full of travelers be allowed to land when the country is on lockdown?

Have a look at flight radar there are still flights everyday from china and hong kong and flights to eastern europe places like Budapest.

[SpacePhoenix]

i was under the impression all holiday travel was banned? and how the hell on earth would an aircraft full of travelers be allowed to land when the country is on lockdown?

Have a look at flight radar there are still flights everyday from china and hong kong and flights to eastern europe places like Budapest.

Are they all passenger flights are are they freight?

[wallop]

i was under the impression all holiday travel was banned? and how the hell on earth would an aircraft full of travelers be allowed to land when the country is on lockdown?

Have a look at flight radar there are still flights everyday from china and hong kong and flights to eastern europe places like Budapest.

Are they all passenger flights are are they freight?

They are passenger flights i've seen Ryan air,Finn air,BA and whizz

[SpacePhoenix]

i was under the impression all holiday travel was banned? and how the hell on earth would an aircraft full of travelers be allowed to land when the country is on lockdown?

Have a look at flight radar there are still flights everyday from china and hong kong and flights to eastern europe places like Budapest.

Are they all passenger flights are are they freight?

They are passenger flights i've seen Ryan air,Finn air,BA and whizz

They could easily be normal passenger planes but with no passengers, cargo only, if they're heading out of the UK.

[wallop]

i was under the impression all holiday travel was banned? and how the hell on earth would an aircraft full of travelers be allowed to land when the country is on lockdown?

Have a look at flight radar there are still flights everyday from china and hong kong and flights to eastern europe places like Budapest.

Are they all passenger flights are are they freight?

They are passenger flights i've seen Ryan air,Finn air,BA and whizz

They could easily be normal passenger planes but with no passengers, cargo only, if they're heading out of the UK.

Look at Heathrow and Luton departures they are not cargo flights it wouldn't say gate open.