Infectious optimism
Revelers wait in line outside a pub in Leeds on Sunday night, counting down to midnight, when the final coronavirus restrictions were lifted in England. But the run-up to Monday — dubbed “freedom day” in the press — has seen a surge in infections and warnings of supermarket shortages. Britain has the seventh-highest COVID-19 death toll at 128,708, and is forecast to soon have more new infections each day than it did at the height of a second wave of the virus earlier this year. On Sunday, there were 48,161 new cases.