Wednesday, 24 June 2020

Biel a Goer?

THE leaks ahead of Boris Johnson's lockdown-easing announcement yesterday were, to say the least, pretty comprehensive.
With hindsight I should not have been surprised there was nothing about easing foreign travel restrictions.
At present the Foreign Office is sticking to the line for Switzerland as for elsewhere: "The Foreign & Commonwealth Office currently advises British nationals against all but essential international travel. This advice is being kept under constant review."
However Switzerland, where the Biel Special Corona Amateur Tournament starts on July 20, has no restrictions on UK nationals entering the country from Britain, again according to the UK Foreign Office.
The Special Corona Amateur Tournament is nine rounds over 10 days, which means the obvious dates for travel are Sunday July 19 out, Thursday July 30 back.
There are flights on those days from, for example, London airports to Zurich, although according to the congress website other airports in Switzerland are equally convenient for getting to Biel.
The problem would be whether the UK government's 14-day quarantine for travellers arriving from abroad (Irish Republic excepted, of course) will have been lifted by the end of July.
I suspect the answer is almost certainly Yes, and I further believe the blanket advice against travelling abroad will have been lifted by then.
All in all, I am strongly leaning towards booking flights and a hotel ...
BUT then I found the following at BBC News:
The chance of having a summer break abroad in 2020 seems remote - with the Foreign Office still warning against non-essential travel, and quarantine rules making many trips impractical.
British nationals are still being urged not to take any non-essential foreign travel.
This means you are unlikely to get travel insurance, because insurers take their cue from the official advice.
What about going away in the autumn?
Again, it's impossible to say at this stage.
Travel advice will need to have been updated, but it depends on the disease's progress.
So maybe I will hold off on making a decision about Biel for a week or two ...

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