THE HEALTH Secretary has warned that a new spike in Covid-19 cases is “clearly” beginning to emerge in Europe as he said “we’ve got to do everything” to prevent it reaching the UK’s shores.
“I am worried about a second wave. I think you can see a second wave starting to roll across Europe and we’ve got to do everything we can to prevent it from reaching these shores and to tackle it,” Matt Hancock told Sky News.
“So, absolutely, on a second wave it is something I worry about and I worry about it because we can see it happening.”
The length of time people with coronavirus symptoms must self-isolate is set to increase to 10 days in England, but it is unclear whether this would also be the case in Wales.
Deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam is expected to announce on Thursday that the period will increase from the current rule of seven days.
But Mr Hancock also hinted that ministers are working on ways to reduce the current quarantine period for new arrivals to the UK from 14 days, amid pressure from the tourism industry.
“We’re always looking at how we can have the least possible burden of the measures that we have to put into place so that is something on which we’re doing some work but we’ll only come forward with a proposal when we’re confident that it is safe to do so."
Currently, Wales follows the approach adopted by England - in that should you arrive back from a country where you are required to quarantine, as per the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, you must also do so in Wales.
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