... and new flare-up puts summer holidays in peril

FEARS of another lost summer for European holidays were growing yesterday as the EU appeared to be on the cusp of a third wave of the pandemic.

Germany’s health minister warned the bloc’s botched vaccine rollout meant new lockdowns would be needed to quell a rising tide of infections across the Continent.

Jens Spahn said: ‘An honest analysis of the situation shows there are not yet enough vaccines in Europe to stop the third wave by vaccination alone.’

Meanwhile Professor Neil Ferguson, architect of the first lockdown, cast doubt on foreign holidays when he said Britain should consider strengthening border restrictions.

He told the BBC cases of the feared South African variant were at worrying levels, particularly in France, and that ministers were facing ‘important decisions’ about whether to reopen international travel next month.

He warned that, although it is impossible to keep variants out forever, it was in Britain’s interests to delay the South African strain entering for as long as possible to protect the vaccine rollout. France, where new lockdowns began last night, recorded almost 35,000 cases in the 24 hours up to Thursday night, compared with 6,303 in the UK. It is also estimated that around 5-10 per cent of French cases are the South African variant.

Professor Ferguson, of Imperial College London, said it would be impractical to add France to the UK’s travel ban ‘red list’ due to close trading ties but warned ‘we really do want’ to keep out the South African strain.

He said: ‘There are important decisions coming up… I mean frankly the current ban on international travel except for essential purposes.

‘I’m just raising the issue that we’re doing so well with the vaccination campaign, we’re driving down deaths at a faster rate than I ever thought was possible, and that will allow us to open up. But opening up poses risks.’

A taskforce led by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps will report on April 12 on how international travel should resume. It can do so no sooner than May 17 under the lockdown roadmap.