Scientists tell MPs foreign breaks are ‘not recommended’
INTERNATIONAL experts queued up yesterday to pour cold water on Scots hopes of a summer holiday.
Scientists told the Home Affairs Select Committee jetting off for a sunshine break was not “a good option” as the world continues to battle the Covid-19 pandemic.
Labour MP and committee chairwoman Yvette Cooper said: “As we are approaching the summer holiday season, there is
BY BEN GLAZE huge pressure not just in the UK but a lot of other European countries to have the tourist industry functioning in some form this summer.”
But epidemiologist Sir David Skegg, a former consultant to the World Health Organisation, said: “This virus is still with us and this year is going to be different from other years.
“I can’t see mass tourism being a good option at the moment.
I’m certainly not in a hurry to book a holiday.”
Skegg added: “Flying is potentially a great way of transmitting not just this virus but other infections as well. People are in close proximity, with air being recirculated, using the same toilets and so on.”
The Government hopes air bridges – linking the UK to countries with low infection rates – could help families enjoy a sunshine break. But Professor
Gabriel Leung, of Hong Kong University, said testing capacity would “need to be massively ramped up for any kind of crossborder travel – even within these travel bubbles or air bridges”.
Skegg also criticised the UK’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak, blasting the time it took to quarantine foreign visitors, which only began on Monday.
He said: “It’s not clear to me what the UK strategy is for dealing with this disease.”