Captain Tom gets a hero’s send-off

LONDON — Church bells rang out and a World War II-era aircraft flew over the funeral service of Captain Tom Moore, the veteran who single-handedly raised millions of pounds for Britain’s health workers by walking laps in his backyard.

Soldiers performed ceremonial duties at the private service for Moore, on Saturday. He died at the age of 100 on Feb 2 after testing positive for COVID-19. Captain Tom, as he became known, inspired the UK during the first months of the coronavirus pandemic with his humble endeavor that raised almost 33 million pounds ($46 million) for Britain’s National Health Service last year. Moore served in World War II.

Moore’s positive attitude — “Please remember, tomorrow will be a good day” became his trademark phrase — inspired the nation at a time of crisis. Prime Minister Boris Johnson described him as a “hero in the truest sense of the word”.

A total of 19.7 million people in Britain have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, official figures on Saturday showed.

Third national lockdown

England is under its third national lockdown since the outbreak of the pandemic. Similar restrictions are also in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

All households in England with school-or college-aged children will be offered two rapid COVID-19 tests per person per week to support the government’s priority to get young people back in the classroom, the health ministry said on Sunday.

Globally, there were more than 113 million cases by Sunday, with more than 2.5 million deaths, Johns Hopkins University in the US said.

In Ireland, 23 people were arrested following a violent protest against COVID-19 restrictions in downtown Dublin on Saturday, police said.

Three police officers were injured in the protest, one needing hospital treatment, the Irish national police service said.

Police and local media reports said the protest, organized by various groups, took place in Grafton Street in Dublin city center on Saturday afternoon and involved hundreds of people.

Ireland is now under a nationwide lockdown due to the pandemic. Earlier, the government decided to extend lockdown measures until April 5.