Foreign Secretary urges patience in Covid battle amid hankering for hugs
Dominic Raab has urged caution in the "last lap" of the fight against coronavirus, arguing there is only "a little bit more time" until all legal restrictions on social interaction are removed.
The Foreign Secretary said yesterday that" steady steps" out of lock down are" the smart way togo" so that the many sacrifices are not squandered as people plead for hugs between family members to be permitted again sooner.
Mr Raab insisted that the UK Government would publish a list of nations deemed safe to visit "shortly" ahead of the expected lifting of the ban on international holidays for people in England from 17 May.
The Scottish Government has said the ban will not be liftedbefore 17 may and may not be lifted until sometime after then.
Mr Ra abs aid that" all the different contingencies" are being looked at when asked about a reported plan to consider offering vaccines to secondary school pupils as soon as September.
"We' re very close now to really turning the corner and I think we still need to be careful to go as I said we don't want to see the gains lost and the sacrifices that have been made undone," the Cabinet minister told Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday.
"By the time we get to June 21 almost all social restrictions will be lifted so there's only a little bit more time to go, but it's right to make sure we do that in a careful way."
He acknowledged that the roll out of vaccines has increased the temptation for still prohibited social interactions outside individuals' households including" hugging your loved ones that you haven't been able to do for a while".
"I do think we just need to make sure that in the last lap, if you like, that we are careful and we don't lose the gains we've made," he added.
Ministers are yet to publish details of a new traffic light system detailing different rules for people returning from overseas travel depending on the risk.
Mr Raab told The Andrew Marr Show on the BBC that the lists categorising countries into three groups is "coming shortly".
Meanwhile, a scientist advising the Government warned it is vital that people do not think that vaccines are the only thing that is going to halt the pandemic. Professor Peter Open shaw, a member of the new and emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), told Marr: "We really do know that lock down works and that public events, mass events, will feed the spread of the virus, and that we mustn't take our concentration off that and think that just by vaccinating we are going to be out of the situation."
Mr Raab said "some safeguards" may stay in place when legal restrictions end, such as continued use of masks and physical distancing.
And he said no decision has been made on whether to vaccinate children but that the government is looking at" different contingencies".
Meanwhile, self-isolation requirements for individuals who have been in contact with someone who tests positive for corona virus could be relaxed as a result of a major new study utilising rapid testing.
Daily lateral flow tests will be given to as many as 40,000have a positive covid -19 contact in the Governmentbacked research announced yesterday.