The Coronavirus pandemic was the major topic around the world in January of 2020, even though China was still the major focus as of then. By March, several other countries have recorded cases and by April virtually every country in the world had cases and most was on lockdowns. Even though some relaxed the lockdowns after some time and progress, there was a second wave and some countries were forced to lockdown again.
This article will discuss how the Coronavirus pandemic has affected the UK as well as when you will be able to travel from the UK again.
How the Coronavirus has affected the UK
The first Coronavirus case in the UK was discovered on 31 January 2020. From here, the case continued to multiply, the first lockdown in the UK began on 23 March 2020. The lockdown was in effect till July. By 31 October 2020, another lockdown was announced. This was also later relaxed and by 6 January 2021, another lockdown was announced. As of 24 January 2021, the UK is still in its third lockdown.
As of 24 January 2021, the UK already had 3,647,463 confirmed Covid-19 cases, making them the fifth most affected country in the world. The country was also having an average of over 30,000 new cases daily. Out of the total confirmed cases, 1,933,217 were active, 97,939 had died implying that 1,616,307 had survived the virus. The number of death showed that of every 1 million people in the UK’s 68 million population, 1,438 people had died. The implication is that in less than 1 year after the first case was confirmed, the disease had killed 0.014 per cent. These show how severe the virus is in the country and why everyone is being advised to cooperate to make sure that the situation in the UK gets better.
The current lockdown allows for people to leave the house only when they have a reasonable excuse. People are also not allowed to leave the house to socially meet with other people. Organizing or attending a house party with 15 other people or more would have you paying £800 fine. Hence, travelling from the UK to other countries is currently out of the question. It is worthy of note that all of these measures are being put in place for the benefit of the people as the country aims to minimize the rate of infection and by implication the number of people dying from the virus.
When will it be possible to travel from the UK again?
Currently, it is not possible to travel from the UK except there is a legally permitted reason for you to travel. There is also advice available on countries that you could travel to as flights to other countries with a high rate of Covid-19 and deaths are discouraged.
For those who do not have legally permitted reasons, they will have to wait until the lockdown is relaxed and bans on international travel lift. The implication is that travelling out of the UK will only be possible after the country has found a reliable solution to the Covid-19 pandemic. One such solution will be administering the Covid-19 vaccine to most people in the country. Hence, once you have taken the vaccine, it will be safe to travel again and you could travel to anywhere of your choice since you should not be immune to the virus. When you want to travel, you should see travel companies reviews to know which travel agency’s services you can use. If you need to stock up on clothes, you should also check Berrylook UK.
If the vaccines continue to delay, the UK will continue to analyse available data and once there is a significant reduction in the rate of spread, people might be allowed to move around and travel again with instructions to take precautions.