Travel, Tourism & Hospitality

UK bans non-essential travel till May 17

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday announced a ban on non-essential international travel from and to the country till at least May 17.
 
The extension of the ban came as the new Covid-19 strain has been spreading in the UK and as part of a new four-step plan to ease the lockdown could see all legal limits on social contact lifted by June 21, if strict conditions are met..
 
The UK government will report on April 12 with recommendations about how international travel should resume, while managing the risks of new variants of coronavirus.
 
"The government will determine when international travel should resume, which will be no earlier than 17 May," the government said in its statement.
 
Britain is looking at a system of allowing vaccinated individuals to travel more freely internationally, the statement added.
 
Johnson said the first stage of the new plan would prioritise schools returning on March 8 when only minimal socialising outdoors would be allowed.
 
Shops, hairdressers, gyms and outdoor hospitality could reopen on April 12. From May 17, two households might be allowed to mix in homes, while the rule of six could apply in places like pubs.
 
It requires four tests on vaccines, infection rates and new coronavirus variants to be met at each stage.
 
Prime Minister Boris Johnson told MPs the plan aimed to be "cautious but irreversible" and at every stage decisions would be led by "data not dates".