Yesterday the Prime Minister in England set out a roadmap to cautiously ease lockdown restrictions. The 3 key elements are:
- Four-step roadmap to ease restrictions across England and provide a route back to a more normal way of life
- Each step to be assessed against four tests before restrictions ease
- The decision on each stage will be based on data not dates, and government will move cautiously to keep infection rates under control
We have reviewed the details and would like to draw your attention to 4 stages that are of particular relevance to domestic and international travel and thus to the day trips and holidays that Greenwings offer.
The rule of six
From 29th March the rule of 6 will apply.
“people will be able to meet outside in groups up to a maximum of 6 people (the Rule of 6).”
This is not expected to change until at least 17th May, when step 3 is due to begin.
Up to 30 people outdoors
Once step 3 begins the rule will be that up to 30 people can meet outdoors.
“The Government will lift most legal restrictions on meeting others outdoors, but gatherings of more than 30 people outdoors will remain illegal.”
International travel
Also, as part of step 3 is the ruling that international travel can begin (subject to review). This will not happen any earlier than 17th May.
“The Global Travel Taskforce will report on 12 April with recommendations aimed at facilitating a return to international travel as soon as possible while still managing the risk from imported cases and Variants of Concern. Following that, the Government will determine when international travel should resume, which will be no earlier than 17 May.”
A return to some form of normality
Step 4 will take place no earlier than 21 June. It is anticipated that by then the government will remove all legal limits on social contact and that international travel will bepossible, if not already taking place since step 3 in May.
The future
We are currently reviewing the impact the roadmap will have on our existing schedule and plans for the coming months. If you are booked on any of our day trips or tours between now and 21st June 2021, we will be contacting you (in chronological order that the trips are running) to discuss your booking with you. At this moment in time we are expecting day trips and tours after 17th May to run, but we will have to wait until after 12th April for the Travel Taskforce report to know for certain.
If you are booked on a day trip or tour after 21st June 2021 we will be in touch later, but for now please assume that your trip will go ahead (subject to review).
Naturally, we will also have to consider all the above against the Coronavirus rules and restrictions in place in the individual countries/locations that the tours visit.
As you can imagine this is a rather complicated and constantly evolving situation to deal with. We would like to thank you for your ongoing support and patience throughout this very trying time. We can’t wait to start sharing wildlife travels and adventures with you all again!
By Matt Berry
Director
Last updated: 23rd February 2021
References
The press announcement from 22nd February can be found here:
The full details of the roadmap, as published by the UK Government, and from which the above quotations were taken, can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-response-spring-2021
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