As UK prepares to open ‘air bridges’ to Europe new survey reveals 21% of adults in Wales will try to holiday abroad this summer

Summer holidays abroad have been given the green light by the UK government, according to reports.

Existing 14-day quarantine rules are set to be replaced by a traffic light system that will see countries allocated a green, amber or red label, depending on the level of coronavirus in the destination.

Ministers will confirm a list of “air bridges” with other countries in the coming week, its likely  France, Greece and Spain will be first on the list.

A survey published by Public Health Wales this week has revealed that a fifth (21 per cent) of all adults would still try to go on holiday abroad this summer if there were no quarantine restrictions on their return.

Four in 10 (43 per cent) say they would try to go somewhere in the UK and a similar number (42 per cent) intend to stay at home. In a normal year, 59 per cent of the same people would usually go abroad for a summer holiday and 49 per cent would holiday in the UK.

The weekly Public Engagement Survey also identifies that the public in Wales remain cautious about changes in social distancing.

Nearly seven out of ten (69 per cent) people think that social distancing should remain at two metres, while a quarter think it should reduce to one metre and six per cent believe it should be removed completely.

577 Welsh residents aged 18 years and over were interviewed in week 11 of the survey (15th to 21st June).

The latest Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) public engagement survey report from Public Health Wales covers the period of 15 June to 21 June, when 577 people were surveyed.

When asked about children returning to school, nearly half of respondents (47 per cent) said that they would be very or extremely concerned about children’s education being damaged by schools returning to normal too slowly.

However, over the same time period, 54 per cent of people said they would be very or extremely concerned about children catching Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in schools and spreading this in their families and communities.

Each week, Public Health Wales conducts interviews with hundreds of people aged 18 or over across Wales, to understand how Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) and the measures being used to prevent its spread are affecting the physical, mental and social wellbeing of people in Wales.

Professor Mark Bellis, Director of Policy and International Health at Public Health Wales said:

As Wales begins its careful journey out of Coronavirus restrictions, we can see a mixture of views emerging as the general public consider the direction and pace of change.

Parents and carers are concerned about their children’s education if schools return to normal too slowly but it is also completely understandable that more than half of respondents are worried about their children catching the virus and spreading it to their family and community.”

After months of official messaging on the need for two metre social distancing we can see more than two thirds of people continue supporting it but one in four people in Wales would now like to see it reduced to one metre.”

Whilst many people remain concerned about relaxing protective measures, it is extremely positive to see that eight in ten people would feel safe attending medical appointments.

Whilst Coronavirus remains a threat to people’s health, it is one of many health concerns faced by individuals and families across Wales and it is vital that people continue to seek medical attention for all physical and mental health problems whenever they feel it is necessary.

The survey is part of a raft of measures being implemented by Public Health Wales to support public health and wellbeing through Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Other measures implemented have also included the launch of Public Health Wales’ ‘How are you doing?’ wellbeing campaign, created to support the people of Wales to look after their wellbeing and to ensure public health is protected during the isolation period.