ENGLAND residents reopen doors as lockdown eases.

As covid lockdown eases, outdoor socializing, sports return

LONDON — It was dubbed Happy Monday, with open-air swimmers donning their wet suits for the first time in months and rusty golfers doing their best to get their drives down the middle of the fairway.

England has embarked on a major easing of its latest coronavirus lockdown that went into effect at the start of the year, with families and friends able to meet up in outdoor spaces and many sports permitted once again.

And, as if right on cue, the weather is turning, with temperatures rising to levels more akin to southern Spain at this time of year.

Under Monday’s easing, groups of up to six, or two households, can socialize in parks and gardens once more, while outdoor sports facilities can reopen after the stay-athome order, which has seen new coronavirus cases fall dramatically over the past three months, officially ended.

After months of being cooped up at home, many people are relishing the prospect of being able to enjoy their outdoor sport of choice, from tennis to open-air swimming. Organized team sports, such as children’s football clubs, can start up again too.

Probably the first to reopen its doors Monday was the Morley Hayes Golf Club near Derby in central England, with players teeing off at 12:01 a.m. for a seven-hole floodlit charity tournament.

The other parts of the U.K. — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — are taking broadly similar steps. In Wales, thousands of people poured onto beaches and mountain spots Saturday after the authorities lifted travel restrictions in place since December.

Many aspects of England’s lockdown remain in place, with the British government stressing that it’s taking a cautious approach, not least because of rising cases in continental Europe.

Most nonessential businesses remain closed, along with pubs, restaurants, gyms, cinemas, theaters, museums and sports stadiums. And the government continues to urge people to work at home where they can, while traveling abroad is largely banned.

PHILIPPINES LOCKDOWN

The Philippines’ key economic area plunged back into lockdown for a week starting Monday as the nation faces its worst coronavirus surge and a slow vaccine rollout.

Metro Manila and the adjacent provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal were placed under enhanced community quarantine, the nation’s strictest classification of movement curbs, through Sunday, with a curfew from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Harry Roque, a spokesman for President Rodrigo Duterte, said Monday that economic impact will be balanced with further stemming the outbreak.

“We can’t let more people die of hunger and other reasons in our effort to lower covid-19 cases,” Roque said.

“Our main objective why we’re closing down again is to make our health care system more manageable,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said. “Our emergency rooms and intensive care units are choking.”

The government will tap $475 million in unused funds from last year’s relief measure to aid millions of people affected by the lockdown, Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado said.

RETURN TO HONG KONG

Hong Kong officials said Monday that residents stranded in Britain would be allowed to return starting next month, as they announced the easing of multiple coronavirus restrictions.

Hundreds of Hong Kong residents have been stuck in Britain since December, when the Chinese territory abruptly announced a ban on direct travel from the country after the emergence there of a highly contagious variant of the virus. Starting in the second half of April, they will be allowed to return to Hong Kong on designated flights, officials said.

They did not mention any change to similar bans on arrivals from Brazil, Ireland and South Africa.

Hong Kong’s quarantine requirements, which are among the strictest in the world, will also be eased for travelers arriving from “low-risk” countries like Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Instead of quarantining at designated hotels for 21 days, they will have to quarantine for 14 days followed by seven days of self-monitoring.

The Hong Kong border remains closed to nonresidents.

Other changes appeared aimed at rejuvenating the city’s struggling vaccination effort. The government announced it would lift visitation restrictions at hospitals and nursing homes for those who have been inoculated and end mandatory coronavirus testing for restaurant, school and construction workers who are fully vaccinated.

CASES SURGE IN INDIA

In India, Hindus threw colored powder and sprayed water in Holi celebrations Monday despite many Indian states restricting gatherings to try to contain a coronavirus resurgence rippling across the country.

Holi marks the advent of spring and is widely celebrated throughout Hindu-majority India. Most years, millions of people throw colored powder at one another in outdoor celebrations. But for the second year, people were encouraged to stay at home.

The latest surge is centered in the western state of Maharashtra, where authorities have tightened travel restrictions and imposed curfews. It is considering a strict lockdown.

Cases are also rising in the capital, New Delhi, and the states of Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.

Information for this article was contributed by Pan Pylas and Sheikh Saaliq of The Associated Press; by Clarissa Batino and Andreo Calonzo of Bloomberg News (WPNS); and by Tiffany May of The New York Times.