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Dr Hilary issues fresh concern about heading towards third wave as he reminds viewers about travel risks
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Dr Hilary Jones has expressed his concern over the possibility of heading towards a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, while reminding members of the public of the risks of travel.
On Thursday’s edition of Lorraine, Lorraine Kelly spoke to Dr Hilary about the desire for people to go on holiday and enjoy the summer weather ahead of Transport Secretary Grant Shapps’ announcement today on the travel light system.
Dr Hilary, who works as a GP, stated that while the travel industry ‘wants to open up again’ and ‘people desperately want to get some sunshine’, he warned that not only will there be ‘a lot of people who are still not vaccinated’, but there is also a new variant in circulation, the Delta plus variant.
This week, the Delta plus variant was declared by India as a ‘variant of concern’, and as of Wednesday had been found in 10 countries, having first been discovered in April in Europe, with 41 confirmed cases in the UK.
There is concern that the variant is more transmissible than the original Delta variant, which is up to 60% more infectious than the Alpha variant which was first detected in Kent in December 2020.
Dr Hilary said that for those who still wish to travel abroad, ‘it will be a different experience anyway’, with travellers feeling ‘nervous’ standing with other people in queues at the airport and ‘breathing the same air’ as fellow passengers on planes.
‘You’ll be nervous of the people in queues at the airport, you’re stuck in a little metal tube flying through the air with all those other people breathing the same air as you and I think there’s a degree of risk involved,’ he said.
‘That’s my doctor’s hat on and that is the medical health view that I have, and I know it’s not what the aviation industry wants to hear, what holidaymakers want to hear, but it’s what I think.’
In addition to there being a new variant, Dr Hilary also highlighted the fact that yesterday there were 16,000 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the UK, marking a ‘5,000 increase in 24 hours’.
‘So you know, we might be heading for that third wave, and I hate to say it, people will hate to hear it, but that is the truth,’ he told Lorraine.
With everything in mind, Dr Hilary said that he would prefer to ‘wait a bit longer’ to go on holiday, with Lorraine replying: ‘I’m with you, I’m with you on that.’
Today, the Transport Secretary is set to make an announcement on the ‘traffic light’ system in place for the travel industry, with the possibility of opening up more travel destinations.
This afternoon, government ministers are due to meet to decide whether to add more destinations to the green list, which wouldn’t require holidaymakers to quarantine for 10 days when they return to the UK.
Lorraine airs weekdays at 9am on ITV.
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