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Good Morning Britain Doctor Says Holidays Would Be 'Inappropriate' As £5000 Fines Introduced For Those Attempting Travel

Good Morning Britain Doctor Says Holidays Would Be 'Inappropriate' As £5000 Fines Introduced For Those Attempting Travel

Dr Hilary Jones said it would be 'foolhardy' of anybody to be talking about travel right now, as Covid variants remain a significant risk.

Joanna Freedman

Joanna Freedman

Good Morning Britain's Dr Hilary Jones has warned it would be "inappropriate" and "foolhardy" to consider international holidays at the moment.

His comments come as the government yesterday announced £5000 fines for people attempting to travel while it is still illegal from Monday, should they not have a 'reasonable excuse'.

Reasonable excuses include work, education or medical treatments, while holidaying will be outlawed.

Further discussions about whether holidays will be permitted are expected as we move further down the lockdown roadmap, to avoid the worst affects of the third Covid wave we are currently seeing across Europe.



Addressing the fines, and why they are appropriate for those talking of foreign travel, Dr Hilary said: "People talking about holidays at the moment, it's not appropriate. It's foolhardy...

"It's international travel that's transmitting the virus more quickly than anything else - aircrafts and people being able to move very quickly throughout the world.

"We're also seeing new variants, it's not just the original virus that's causing mayhem, it's the new variants that are also potentially very damaging.

Travelling abroad would be 'foolhardy' the doctor warned (
PA)

"Because while we're doing very well with our vaccination programme here, the new variants threaten the immunity that is generated through the vaccines we're currently using..."

He concluded: "We don't want to go back to the position we were in a year ago. If we're too lax with the regulations, we will have another wave, we will have more people in hospital, more deaths again and people will suffer with their mental health, with their education...

"And that's why I think it's really imperative that people take this seriously still and obey the regulations which are set down by the Government but advised through scientists".

Dr Hilary addressed those wanting to travel abroad (
ITV)

The Government will be reviewing its international travel regulations on April 12th to see if action can be taken to ease restrictions later down the line, and there a currently reports that a tiered system could be implemented to different countries depending on various Covid safety factors.

Even with this in place, the earliest date that people in England, Scotland and Wales would be permitted to go abroad for a holiday would be 17th May - but the recent surge in Covid across Europe means that this is looking doubtful.

The slow rollout of vaccines across many countries in Europe could also cause issues when it comes to foreign travel.

Featured Image Credit: ITV

Topics: UK News, lockdown, Coronavirus, Covid-19