UK Agriculture Secretary George Justis said today that his advice to the British would be to stay on holiday in the country for this year and avoid traveling abroad unless absolutely necessary.
Saying he would stay in the country this summer, he urged his countrymen to visit the "wonderful places" in the UK, reducing the risk of the coronavirus spreading and mutating.
"Some may intend to travel abroad (in the summer), but they must understand that there are obviously dangers in doing so, because it is an evolving situation. "But I think most will probably decide this year to stay inside the walls, to take a break inside the walls," Mr Justis said.
His statement comes as there is a heated debate both in the public sphere and within the cabinet over whether Prime Minister Johnson should follow the timetable he has set and lift all restrictions on the June 21 pandemic.
A government source who spoke to the Times estimated that this final step in lifting the restrictions is likely to be postponed for two weeks, possibly a month.
The newspaper reports that the chief physician for England, Professor Chris Whitey, and the chief scientific advisor, Sir Patrick Valans, presented an "ominous" epidemiological picture to the Ministers yesterday, emphasizing the higher transmissibility of coronavirus mutations. They also reportedly stressed as a reason for a cautious approach to the next steps that vaccines do not offer 100% protection.
A spokesman for Boris Johnson reiterated on Monday that there was nothing in the epidemiological data to indicate that the timetable should be changed for the lifting of the restrictive measures. He added, however, that in the coming days the data will be evaluated in detail and the decision will be taken next Monday the 14th of the month.
The crucial factor is expected to be whether the increased cases of recent weeks will lead to an increase in hospitalizations, which based on the latest data have not increased.
This is due to the fact that the highest rate of increase in cases concerns young people and especially children in secondary education, who do not get seriously ill. At the same time, vaccines seem to protect against serious disease, which is evidenced by the fact that out of the 126 hospital admissions of Indian coronavirus carriers, only three concern fully vaccinated citizens.
Source: KYPE