Drink up! English pubs reopening
THE streets of Soho filled with merry drinkers in London on Saturday and the pubs of Manchester were packed as England’s hospitality sector returned from a three-month coronavirus hiatus.
“It feels amazing,” said Leo Richard Bill, a soldier, after getting through the door of one of London’s buzziest restaurants on the Thames River’s popular south bank.
“It’s been what, like three months since ... me and everyone else haven’t been able to get outside and have a good time. So yeah, it feels good to get amongst it,” he said.
Parts of London and other cities, deserted during lockdown, sprang to life as people dressed up and came out for “Super Saturday” — the day England’s hospitality sector reopened for the first time since March.
“The boys are back in town,” one young man happily shouted while manoeuvring his pint through lines of crammed tables on a closed-off London street.
“At some point you’ve to get back out there,” said Nick, a 38year-old accountant, about the lingering dangers of an illness that has officially killed 44,198 people in Britain, more than anywhere else in Europe.
Many of the social distancing rules drilled in by ministers at daily televised briefings appeared to go out the window in Soho, where groups of people meandered between pubs and restaurants without a face mask in sight.
“English people, when we are together we have a great time,” Londoner Jeff Mason said.
The government is still technically limiting how many Britons from various households can meet at a time, but officials acknowledge that the latest rules are only recommendations, and no one expects the police to start issuing fines.
Finance Minister Rishi Sunak urged Britons to “eat out to help out,” noting that pubs and restaurants often employed younger people entering the jobs market for the first time.
“This is really about social justice,” said Sunak.
That message did not appear to sit very well with Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who countered: “I’m no killjoy but the virus can still kill.”
Across the country, pubs of Northern Ireland opened on Friday, while those in Wales and Scotland will still have to wait for about 10 days.
Government guidelines also insist on “minimum contact” between staff and customers.
Drinkers must give contact details in case of an outbreak, although a group can designate a single person who can then relay any bad news to the rest.
The first nationwide closure of pubs since the Great Plague of 1665 saw beer sales hit a record low last month.
This pent-up demand could see pub takings soar nearly 75 percent to 210 million pounds (US$262 million) this weekend, the Center for Economics and Business Research said.
(AFP)