Doctors have urged holidaymakers to remember to practice social distancing and good hygiene when hotels, campsites and bed and breakfasts reopen next weekend.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has set out guidelines for tourists to stick to once the tourism and hospitality industries reopen in England from July 4. The union has cautioned that ‘this deadly virus has not gone away’ and urged holidaymakers to remember this as they book trips away.

It comes as hundreds of thousands flocked to beaches and beauty spots on England’s south coast this week to take advantage of the sweltering weather, prompting fears of a second peak with social distancing near impossible.

On Thursday, the hottest day of the year so far, a major incident was declared in Bournemouth after 500,000 swarmed the Dorset coast – almost as many people living in the county – with widespread anti-social behaviour and gridlocked roads.

Following days of overcrowding in the holiday spots, the BMA has encouraged people to wear a face covering when mixing with people from outside their ‘bubble’ indoors and that everyone should practice social distancing and hand washing on holiday.

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The BMA has also advised people not to travel if they are ill or have any Covid-19 symptoms, including a cough, temperature or loss of smell or taste.

The doctors’ union said holidaymakers should be prepared to self-isolate for 14 days if anyone in their ‘bubble’ develops symptoms or is told to do so by the NHS Test and Trace service.

Those who take prescribed medicines should also make sure they have enough to last their trip, the BMA added.

Chair of the BMA south west regional council, Dr Lucy-Jane Davis, stressed that tourism hotspots in the popular region have limited NHS resources compared with the number of visitors anticipated.

She said it is ‘vital’ that politicians, tourism operators and NHS leaders consider all the risks before July 4, and that an effective contact-tracing system is in place before then.

Chair of the BMA public health medicine committee, Dr Peter English, also called on tourism providers and local authorities to consider how they can help mitigate the risk of the virus spreading and urged holidaymakers to act with ‘extreme caution’.

He said: ‘Lockdown is being eased and many aspects of life are returning to some form of normality; however, it is vitally important to recognise that this deadly virus has not gone away.’

It comes after an expert cautioned that the government advice remains to stick to the two metre social distancing rule where possible, adding that there was no scientific benefit to dropping the distance to ‘one metre plus’ from July 4.

Dr Hilary Jones has also warned that a second peak is inevitable if England continues to see mass overcrowding on beaches and lockdown parties.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain this morning, he said: ‘People were fearful of the virus [before], people were scared and now we’re seeing pictures of mass gatherings, celebrations, people in parks. 

‘The whole coverage of the pandemic has changed and that is why we’ve got this thinking that the virus has gone away – it absolutely hasn’t.

‘We’re going to see a second peak if people continue – that minority of people – continue to behave as we’ve been seeing them do on the beaches.’

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