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The public should “exercise their common sense” about travelling abroad, a Home Office minister has said.

Asked on Times Radio whether her department would rather people stayed in the UK, Victoria Atkins said: “We’re very, very, very supportive of the traffic light system. There are some countries in the world at the moment that because of the variants and the rates of infection are simply too dangerous for us to visit in terms of Covid, and of course they are on the red list.

“We then have the amber list which we very much ask people not to travel to unless there are very particular, very dire consequences they’re having to deal with, such as a dying relative, and then the green list.

“And look, the overall goal, we all want to get back to normality, pre-pandemic normality. But I think all understand we’ve got to take careful steps to do that. And so the travel plan and travel lists are very much part of our road map out of lockdown restrictions, but we do have to look at the data.

“We do have to look at what is happening elsewhere in the world, in order to help advise the public as to what is allowed and what is not allowed. But as with anything, we’re asking the public to exercise their common sense and that is the way that we’re going to be able to return to normality.”

Mr Johnson has insisted there is “nothing in the data at the moment” to prevent ending domestic Covid-19 restrictions on June 21, although he and his ministerial colleagues have urged caution.

Debate is continuing over whether the final stages of unlocking restrictions in England can go ahead on June 21, due to concerns over the spread of the coronavirus variant first identified in India.

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi, pressed about the dropping of domestic restrictions on June 21, told ITV’s Peston: “At the moment there’s nothing in the data to suggest that we need to move the road map.

“We’ve been straight with people, as both the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary have said, on June 14 we will share with the nation all the data that we’d have gathered.

“The next 12 days are going to be really important to see what the virus is doing. We’ve got a very large-scale surveillance infrastructure in place in terms of waste water surveillance and large-scale testing.”

The vaccination programme is seen as key in the bid to reopen the country and beyond.

It was confirmed on Wednesday that 75 per cent of UK adults across the UK had now had their first coronavirus jab, and 50 per cent of adults in England had received both doses.

The UK could hit another major milestone on Thursday, passing the point of half of all UK adults receiving both doses of a coronavirus vaccine.

Latest figures suggest 49.5 per cent of the UK population aged 18 and over have had two jabs.

Government figures, based on people who died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, said a further 12 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Wednesday, bringing the UK total to 127,794.

The Government also said that, as of 9am on Wednesday, there had been a further 4,330 lab-confirmed cases in the UK.

It comes after zero Covid-19 deaths were reported in the UK on Tuesday.

Ahead of any announcements, one industry expert said several Greek islands, Malta and parts of the Caribbean could be added to the green travel list on Thursday.

Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said a number of popular holiday destinations “really deserve” to be moved to the low-risk tier.

Mr Charles told the PA news agency he expects additions to the list to include the Greek islands of Zante, Rhodes and Kos, the Caribbean islands of Grenada and Antigua, plus Malta and Finland.

The transition of those locations to green status would be “a boost” to the struggling travel industry, he said.

Assessments are based on a range of factors, including the proportion of a population that has been vaccinated, rates of infection, emerging new variants, and access to reliable scientific data and genomic sequencing.

Portugal is the only viable major tourist destination currently on the green list, but there have been reports that it could be downgraded in the future.

Mr Charles said he would be “surprised” if Spain’s Balearic Islands – including Ibiza, Majorca and Menorca – are added in Thursday’s update.

“They’re hugely popular and I’m not sure the Government is ready to encourage so much travel at the moment.”

On Wednesday, Boris Johnson warned the Government will have “no hesitation” over moving countries off the green list if necessary, and said it will “wait and see” what the recommendations of the Joint Biosecurity Centre are before announcing changes to the travel lists.

People returning to the UK from green locations are not required to self-isolate, and only need to take one post-arrival coronavirus test.

Travellers returning from amber list locations – which includes popular hotspots such as Spain, France, Italy and Greece – must quarantine at home for 10 days and take two post-arrival tests, while there is a travel ban to red list countries.

The Prime Minister said: “We are going to try and allow people to travel as I know many people want to, but we’ve got to be cautious.

“We’ve got to continue to put countries on the red list, on the amber list, when that is necessary.

“We will have no hesitation in moving countries from the green list to the amber list to the red list if we have to do so.

“The priority is to continue the vaccine rollout to protect the people of this country.”

Welcome to the Yorkshire Evening Post’s live blog on Thursday, June 3.

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Buses have been diverted this afternoon as the fire service deals with a bedroom blaze at a home.

The fire service attended the home on Silk Mill Drive shortly after 1pm.

Breathing apparatus and a hose reel was used to contain the blaze in a first floor bedroom, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said.

Appliances from Cookridge, Moortown, Rawdon, Stanningley and Leeds attended the incident.

Metro Travel said bus service 19A was diverting via Iverson Approach, Otley Old Road, Tinshill Lane, Woodnook Drive in both directions until further notice due to the house fire on the usual route.

Here are some of the latest stories on our website this lunchtime: