• Login
  • Register
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result

Too Early to Tell If Hospitality Can Reopen On May 17th, Says Minister

by Michael Curzon
18 April 2021 12:21 PM
Pub Closed Blackboard or Chalkboard Sign Due to Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic

Pub Closed Blackboard or Chalkboard Sign Due to Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic

It is still “too early to say” whether the reopening of indoor hospitality can take place on May 17th, according to the Environment Minister. George Eustice told Andrew Marr on the BBC that while Britain’s vaccine rollout is “on track” (with 10 million second doses expected to have been administered by the end of the weekend), the risk of Covid variants could delay the next step in the Government’s “roadmap” out of lockdown. He is quoted on the Guardian website:

Well, it is too early to say. But I think we are on track in the sense that we are on track with the rollout of the vaccination programme. We have now vaccinated everybody over the age of 50 and this week they are offering vaccinations as well to those under the age of 50, starting with the 45-to-59 year-olds – so that bit is on track.

But we are being a bit cautious here. So although we have now got 60% of the adult population vaccinated we do just have to keep a close eye on these variants of concern.

Also, see what the impacts are of the easements we have just made, the loosenings we have just made, before moving to the next stage.

He delivered a similar message to Sophy Ridge on Sky News:

The biggest threat to everything we’re doing at the moment is that at some point there will be a variant that manages to evade the vaccine or largely evade it, so it is high on our concerns which is why while the vaccine rollout has been incredibly successful with over 60% of the adult population now vaccinated, we continue to proceed with some caution as we come out of lockdown.

The impact of the partial easing of lockdown earlier this month has been tempered by the weather (of course!) and by the fact that a “large proportion” of hospitality businesses do not have access to sufficient outdoor space. Kate Nicholls, the Chief Executive of UK Hospitality, said that even those venues which were able to reopen outdoors “still aren’t going to break even… the best they are going to achieve outdoors is 20%”, highlighting the need to allow businesses to open fully – that is, indoors.

Imperial College’s Danny Altmann said on Friday that “we should be terribly concerned” about the emergence of the Indian Covid variant in Britain, which could “scupper” the “roadmap” out of lockdown – a statement which a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) says is “pessimistic“. The Evening Standard reported:

Imported coronavirus variants are unlikely to set lockdown easing back to “square one” because immunity from vaccines “won’t just disappear”, according to a key figure on the UK’s immunisation committee.

Professor Adam Finn, a member of the JCVI, said he expected a “gradual erosion” of vaccine protection as the virus evolves but not enough to “scupper” the Prime Minister’s roadmap, as one leading scientist had predicted.

Meanwhile, Covid cases have fallen to a seven-month low in England.

Tags: HospitalityRoadmapUnlockVaccineVariants

Donate

We depend on your donations to keep this site going. Please give what you can.

Donate Today

Comment on this Article

You’ll need to set up an account to comment if you don’t already have one. We ask for a minimum donation of £5 if you'd like to make a comment or post in our Forums.

Sign Up
Previous Post

Britain’s Regulator Missed Early Blood Clot Cases Linked to AstraZeneca Vaccine

Next Post

SAGE Modelling From May Last Year Said Approach Recommended in Great Barrington Declaration Was Least Bad Alternative to Lockdown

Subscribe
Login
Notify of
Please log in to comment

To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.

Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.

47 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

NEWSLETTER

View today’s newsletter

To receive our latest news in the form of a daily email, enter your details here:

DONATE

PODCAST

The Sceptic | Episode 43: William Yarwood on Labour’s Welfare Farce, Niall Gooch on Catholicism vs Lib Dems & Tilak Doshi on Trump’s Climate Science Fightback

by Richard Eldred
4 July 2025
0

LISTED ARTICLES

  • Most Read
  • Most Commented
  • Editor’s Picks

The UK’s Crisis Point is Fast Approaching

3 July 2025
by Dr David McGrogan

News Round-Up

4 July 2025
by Richard Eldred

Engineer Given Half Lucy Connolly’s Sentence for Near-Identical Tweet

3 July 2025
by Will Jones

Aberdeen’s Ditching of ESG Proves the Green Finance Revolution is Dead

4 July 2025
by Tilak Doshi

Met Office Caught Deliberately Choosing an Unrealistic Scenario to Predict Climate Doomsday

4 July 2025
by Will Jones

The UK’s Crisis Point is Fast Approaching

47

Jeremy Corbyn “Launches New Hard-Left Party” to Oppose Gaza “Genocide”

31

French Police Puncture Migrant Boats at Sea for First Time

24

News Round-Up

20

Aberdeen’s Ditching of ESG Proves the Green Finance Revolution is Dead

14

Aberdeen’s Ditching of ESG Proves the Green Finance Revolution is Dead

4 July 2025
by Tilak Doshi

The UK’s Crisis Point is Fast Approaching

3 July 2025
by Dr David McGrogan

Does Mass Immigration Cause Homelessness?

3 July 2025
by Noah Carl

Manchester Art Gallery’s New Hyper-Woke Exhibition Shows it Has Lost its Way

3 July 2025
by Dr Roger Watson

The Emergence of the National Dealth Service

3 July 2025
by James Alexander

POSTS BY DATE

April 2021
M T W T F S S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930  
« Mar   May »

SOCIAL LINKS

Free Speech Union

NEWSLETTER

View today’s newsletter

To receive our latest news in the form of a daily email, enter your details here:

POSTS BY DATE

April 2021
M T W T F S S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930  
« Mar   May »

DONATE

LISTED ARTICLES

  • Most Read
  • Most Commented
  • Editor’s Picks

The UK’s Crisis Point is Fast Approaching

3 July 2025
by Dr David McGrogan

News Round-Up

4 July 2025
by Richard Eldred

Engineer Given Half Lucy Connolly’s Sentence for Near-Identical Tweet

3 July 2025
by Will Jones

Aberdeen’s Ditching of ESG Proves the Green Finance Revolution is Dead

4 July 2025
by Tilak Doshi

Met Office Caught Deliberately Choosing an Unrealistic Scenario to Predict Climate Doomsday

4 July 2025
by Will Jones

The UK’s Crisis Point is Fast Approaching

47

Jeremy Corbyn “Launches New Hard-Left Party” to Oppose Gaza “Genocide”

31

French Police Puncture Migrant Boats at Sea for First Time

24

News Round-Up

20

Aberdeen’s Ditching of ESG Proves the Green Finance Revolution is Dead

14

Aberdeen’s Ditching of ESG Proves the Green Finance Revolution is Dead

4 July 2025
by Tilak Doshi

The UK’s Crisis Point is Fast Approaching

3 July 2025
by Dr David McGrogan

Does Mass Immigration Cause Homelessness?

3 July 2025
by Noah Carl

Manchester Art Gallery’s New Hyper-Woke Exhibition Shows it Has Lost its Way

3 July 2025
by Dr Roger Watson

The Emergence of the National Dealth Service

3 July 2025
by James Alexander

SOCIAL LINKS

Free Speech Union
  • Home
  • About us
  • Donate
  • Privacy Policy

Facebook

  • X

Instagram

RSS

Subscribe to our newsletter

© Skeptics Ltd.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In

© Skeptics Ltd.

wpDiscuz
You are going to send email to

Move Comment