Eustice defends keeping India off ‘red list’ for travel

MINISTERS have defended the Government’s decision not to further restrict travel to India, despite mounting calls for the country to be added to the Government’s “red list”.

Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling, which provides evidence on coronavirus to the Government’s Sage committee, said as much information about the new variant must be gathered “as quickly as possible”.

According to figures, 77 confirmed cases of the B.1.617 variant, which was first discovered in India, have been detected in the UK.

Mr Tildesley said: “What’s concerning about the Indian variant is there appear to be two mutations which... may make the vaccines less effective, and may make the virus more transmissible.”

However Environment Secretary George Eustice told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday that the situation is being kept “under regular review” and there was no evidence that “this particular variant is able to get around the vaccine, for instance, or indeed that it is necessarily more contagious than the others”.

However, he said it is “too early to say” whether all hospitality businesses can open on May 17 as ministers must keep “a close eye on these variants of concern”.

Mr Eustice did add that if scientists recommended banning travel to and from India, the Government would act.

Moving the country onto the “red list” would mean only UK nationals could return from India and those doing so must pay to quarantine in a Government-approved hotel for 10 days.

Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan and the Philippines were most recently added to the list of 39.

Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser for NHS Test and Trace, said that, while there is not yet enough data to officially classify the new Indian strain as a “variant of concern”, investigations are ongoing.

“We have seen a couple of cases that haven’t arisen from travel but we’re still trying to undergo the investigations to look in great detail at where they might have acquired it from,” she said.

“To escalate it up the ranking we need to know that it is increased transmissibility, increased severity or vaccine evading, and we just don’t have that yet.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s visit to India will still go ahead later this month despite the country’s soaring cases, No 10 said. The PM has already scaled down his trip owing to India’s rising number infections.

It came as thousands of fans returned to Wembley Stadium yesterday as part of a Government experiment to ensure the safe return of live entertainment.

The FA Cup semi-final between Leicester City and Southampton, which hosted a crowd of 4,000, is part of a large research project looking at how fans and audiences can safely attend events again.

Along with the World Snooker Championship, which started on Saturday in Sheffield, the pilots are part of the science-led Events Research Programme.

The snooker contest started with 325 people attending and will ramp up towards 100 per cent capacity.

Meanwhile more tables on pavements for customers outside cafes and restaurants are making life difficult for blind and partially sighted people.

Maureen Goodall, 50, from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, who uses a white cane, said people with disabilities felt ignored.

We have seen a couple of cases that haven’t arisen from travel. NHS Test and Trace chief medical adviser Dr Susan Hopkins referring to the Indian variant.