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The current guidance from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) regarding travel to/from the UK to certain countries is updated on a frequent basis.
Concerning Italy – and, specifically, Sardinia and Sicily – any persons entering the country are required to produce a negative test result for COVID-19. Passengers will be asked to show evidence that the test was administered in the 72 hours prior to travel. (Clients should not use the NHS testing service to get a test in order to facilitate travel to another country but should arrange to take a private test.)
Alternatively, passengers may be able to undertake a free test on arrival at some airports, or at a testing facility in Italy shortly after their arrival – however, any such test MUST be completed within 48 hours of arrival and clients must remain in isolation until such time as a negative test result is provided. If the test is positive within Italy, passengers will be required to quarantine. The time spent in quarantine can vary greatly from a few days to several weeks as the current regulations state that passengers must have two, consecutive, negative tests to be cleared - and passengers should be prepared for this eventuality.
Even if clients are not arriving directly from the UK, if their arrival into Italy is within 14 days of their last time in the UK – or if they have travelled through or stayed in Belgium, France, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Malta, Greece, Croatia or Spain within the 14 days prior to their arrival in Italy – these regulations still apply.
In addition, within 48 hours of their arrival, clients are required to register their visit by calling the COVID-19 helpline for the region to which they have travelled. Further details are available on the following link: http://www.salute.gov.it/portale/nuovocoronavirus/dettaglioContenutiNuovoCoronavirus.jsp?lingua=english&id=5371&area=nuovoCoronavirus&menu=vuoto
These regulations will remain in place until 31 January 2021.
TRAVEL TO SARDINIA & SICILY
In addition to the above general requirements, passengers travelling to Sardinia or Sicily must register details of their travel arrangements to/from the island as well as the accommodation in which they will be staying. This can be completed on the respective following links: https://sus.regione.sardegna.it/sus/covid19/regimbarco/init and https://siciliasicura.costruiresalute.it/welcome or by downloading the App “Sardegna Sicura” or “Sicilia Sicura” on Play Store or Apple Store.
This form must be completed, on-line, a minimum of 48 hours prior to the scheduled arrival time on either island and failure to comply with this timescale may result in passengers being refused entry. (the form is NOT available in printed form aboard planes or ships).
Passengers travelling between Sardinia and Sicily, either directly or indirectly, must also complete the form relating to the island to which they are travelling, and complying with the required timescales.
You will need the names & address of your accommodations to complete the form, the address can be found in the contacts section of your TravelPal App, each passenger 16 years or over will have to fill in a separate form. Children under 16 can be added to one of the adult forms.
Please note: If you are travelling under a British Passport ensure that you have unticked the Italian nationality tick box under the “Name” section. Should you need any help completing these forms please contact us.
Please also be aware that passengers’ temperature may be taken and they may also be required by their carrier to complete a further declaration of health at check-in at the UK departure airport. Passengers will be also required to wear an approved face-covering from the moment of entry into the UK airport building to the moment of exit at the destination airport, including throughout the duration of the flight. Please bear in mind the average effective life of a mask is around 4 hours so passengers should ensure they have an adequate supply for both outward and return journeys.
In addition, the wearing of surgical face masks (not home-made fabric face coverings) are obligatory in all enclosed spaces and in instances where social distancing cannot be complied with – a radius of 1 metre – or anywhere between 18h00 and 06h00. In Sicily, however, the wearing of a face mask is obligatory outside AT ALL TIMES.
Further information is available on the UK FCDO website : https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/italy/entry-requirements
TRAVEL TO CORSICA
There are no specific requirements to make any declarations prior to arrival on Corsica. However, anyone arriving in Corsica is invited to take a RT-PCR test for COVID-19. A number of airports on the island have introduced temperature screening for arriving passengers and any passengers registering a higher than normal temperature may be obliged to undertake the test and, if positive, will be required to self-isolate for a minimum of 10 days and still subject to completing a negative test. Further details are available on the following link: https://www.corse.ars.sante.fr/les-points-de-prelevement-des-tests-virologiques-rt-pcr-en-corse
RETURNING TO THE UK
Prior to returning to the UK, you will be required to provide contact details of where you can be traced during the 14 days following your re-entry. The details are to be provided on-line, within 48 hours prior to your scheduled arrival time in the UK and MUST be completed prior to your arrival back in the UK. Failure to comply with this requirement can result in difficulties in re-entering the UK and the possibility of a fine.
Passengers returning from Italy (including Sardinia and Sicily) and France (including Corsica) will be required to self-isolate on their return to the UK. This applies if passengers have travelled through or stayed in any part of Italy or France within the 14 days prior to their arrival into the UK.
Further details can be found on the following links:
https://www.gov.uk/uk-border-control
https://www.gov.uk/provide-journey-contact-details-before-travel-uk
We appreciate that our clients will have understandable concerns about the safety of travel to these destinations and what to expect when they arrive. We are fortunate to have staff who live on all three island and who are therefore able to provide first-hand and up to date reports on the effects the regulations are having on the day-to-day situation. We therefore invite our clients to contact us with any queries they may have about any aspect of their holiday – whether already booked or being considered – in order to ensure that an accurate perspective can be given and informed decisions made.
Many of our hotel partners have published a COVID-19 protocol which can be viewed on the respective page on our website and we invite clients to consult these and, again, to please contact us if they have any questions.
Below are the links to the UK FCDO website guidance to travel and to the ABTA guidance on travel to countries affected by the travel advice issued by the UK FCDO and we would be happy to respond to any questions or concerns that you may have at customerservices@hnholidays.co.uk
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/italy
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/france
https://www.abta.com/news/coronavirus-outbreak
The above information is believed to be correct at the time of issue 15:48 16/10/2020
