COVID Q&A Are we still on the roadmap and can we plan holidays yet?

Q Are we still on the roadmap out of lockdown, even now rules have relaxed? A Yes. Three weeks on from the return of shops, hairdressers, gyms and outdoor dining, there has been no reported rise in infections in the UK.

In fact, numbers have continued to fall at a rate of roughly ten per cent each week.

Scientists say the next step of the lockdown exit, scheduled for May 17, when indoor mixing will once again be allowed, will be the riskiest.

Studies have shown that more than 99 per cent of infections happen indoors. Nonetheless, experts say the fact cases are still falling is a reason to be optimistic.

Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said: ‘This is the first week we would expect to see evidence that the relaxation of April 12 has had a negative impact on the epidemic.

‘But there is no evidence of an increased transmission risk. It looks like the current roadmap is still on target.’

Q

Is it really safe to ease restrictions further, when there are still new infections every day? A At a Downing Street press briefing last Wednesday, England’s deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, said Covid cases may not fall any further – but this wouldn’t necessarily be a problem.

‘We are in very low levels that are comparable to where we were last September,’ he said.

‘A typical seven-day average is just over 2,000 people testing positive per day.

‘My sense is that we are at, or close to, the bottom in terms of this level of disease in the UK.’

Ultimately, it might not matter if cases remain stuck here, because the vaccination programme has been so successful, he added.

Office for National Statistics data published last week suggested that almost three-quarters of the adult population have Covid-fighting antibodies, either via vaccination or infection.

Prof Van-Tam said any uptick may be ‘much less significant’ than previous waves because of widespread vaccination.

Q Are some people still refusing the vaccine?

A The most recent Office for National Statistics figures show that 94 per cent of all adults either plan to have the jab, or have already had it.

Currently, just six per cent of adults were hesitant to have the vaccine – down from nine per cent, reported at the end of January.

Public health officials have been concerned about the high levels of vaccine hesitancy in black communities.

But according to the most recent statistics, the number of black British adults reporting vaccine hesitancy fell by nearly 50 per cent.

Even so, about one in five are unsure whether to accept the jab, so there is still work to do.

The most reluctant age group is the 16-to-29-year-olds, with one in eight not planning to have it.

Many have attributed this to recent reports of young people being at higher risk of blood clots from the AstraZeneca vaccine – despite the risk being very low.

That, and the fact that under-30s aren’t being offered the AstraZeneca jab anyway.

Q Which holiday hotspots are we going to be able to visit come May 17?

A The initial list looks short. The Government plans to use a ‘traffic light’ system to determine travel restrictions between countries.

If the country is ‘green’, then it means there will be no requirement to quarantine on return to Britain.

But if it is ‘amber’ or ‘red’, then it is likely that some level of quarantine will still be needed.

Green countries will be those with a high vaccination rate and low cases of coronavirus variants, such as Israel, Singapore, Gibraltar, Iceland and Malta.

As Europe’s vaccination programme continues to pick up pace, it is expected that many of its nations will be added to the green list.

Last week, Spain’s tourism minister, Fernando Valdes Verelst, said the country ‘would be ready in June’ to welcome Britons.