Strange,
Your posts imply a level of trust in what the government is saying or not saying about a public health issue. I don’t live in the UK but I agree with Scott that when to call an outbreak an epidemic or something else is left in the hands of politicians and it’s dangerous, regardless of what country you live in or what government is in power, to put blind faith in a government proclamation or the lack of one.
I traveled to Jamaica back in 1995, about a week after the US Center for Disease Control issued a travel advisory on Jamaica based on an outbreak/epidemic of Dengue Fever. After the advisory was issued I conferred at length with my travelling companion. We collected all the information we could and in the end we decided not to cancel our trip. When I got to Jamaica the locals I spoke with spoke as if the Dengue Fever was only a real issue in the mountainous areas and that since we were on the coast, there was no concern whatsoever and they basically laughed it off. However it’s a mosquito borne illness, and during my stay at that resort on the water in Negril, I didn’t notice any bugs. I learned later on that the resort had invested heavily in spraying insecticides and repellants in the area, perhaps to reduce mosquito infiltration in part.
The bottom line is that one should have healthy skepticism of Government pronouncements on public health issues or qualifying them. Personally I think your decision should be guided by what your personal physician says and not what the UK government is or is not saying. I personally get flu-vaccinated and am encouraged to do so by my doctor, my health insurance company and wouldn’t want to be a person who exposes anything to others because I have contact with elderly people, including my parents who are in their 80s.
Good health and wishes to all of you in the UK.