Rush in UK as stores reopen despite warnings from experts

LONDON: Thousands of Britons emerged from lockdown to stand in long queues outside shops and malls as the Boris Johnson government allowed non-essential shops to reopen on Monday.

Experts and WHO officials sounded a note of caution that the virus has not gone away, but reports from Manchester, Birmingham and elsewhere said many people joined lines with social distancing long before opening times, reflecting lockdown ennui among the people.

Chancellor of exchequer Rishi Sunak visited a London bookstore and said: “From Monday, shops selling books, clothes, and electronics are able to open for business for the first time in more than two months, as part of our plan to gradually and safely reopen the economy.”

The shops have reopened in England, not elsewhere in the UK. The shops need to ensure they are ‘Covid-19 secure’ before opening, which includes barriers for queues outside, one-way routes inside shops and several posters inside to remind people to maintain at least two metres of distance from others.

Officials said the non-essential retail sector employs 1.3 million people, accounting for £46.6 billion to British economy, which has seen its GDP plummet 20% in April. London mayor Sadiq Khan cautioned people that the lockdown has not been lifted: “The virus is still out there…stay at home as much as possible and avoid public transport”.

A World Health Organization official has warned that the lockdown in the UK should not be further lifted until the government’s contact-tracing system proves to be “robust and effective”. The WHO’S regional European director Hans Kluge, in an interview with The Guardian newspaper, cautioned that Britain remained in a “very active phase of the pandemic” and warned against rushing into reopening the economy.

Britain said on Sunday it was reviewing its two-metre social distancing rule ahead of the next stage of lockdown easing planned for July 4.

England’s test and trace system identified nearly 32,000 people who had been in close contact with someone who had tested positive for Covid-19 in its first week of operation, but the government admitted that the system is not perfect and would need to do better.

PM Boris Johnson’s government, which has faced heavy criticism for its handling of the pandemic, has touted the system as the way to ease lockdown measures while keeping the virus in check.