The extension of the UK's international travel ban yesterday has caused a new wave of pessimism among those looking to travel this summer.
Legislation, which comes into effect on Monday, puts the ban into effect until the end of June. Those that don't comply are being threatened with fines of up to £5,000.
While it would appear that an international travel ban being extended would effectively put an end to holidays abroad, this may not necessarily be the case.
Throughout the campaign, plenty of precedent has been set on quickly changing laws upon later review. In this instance, the review will take place on May 3 - two weeks prior to the date for international travel originally set out in the government roadmap.
The ban, furthermore, has been described as legislative procedure, while Matt Hancock has said the fines will not necessarily be in place until the end of June.
Much of this is likely to depend on the situation both here and abroad, including factors such as the success of the vaccination campaign and the prevalence of 'variants of concern'.
The "will-they-won't-they" is likely to continue, but further clarity on the matter is expected when the Global Travel Taskforce meet on April 12.
The Taskforce will be armed with the responsibility of determining when international travel should resume.
Following consideration of both scientific and clinical data, they will "ensure that any shorter-term changes act as a bridge to longer-term objectives on delivering vaccine certification to facilitate travel" according to the government website.
