‘Freedom day’ in England despite warnings
VIRTUALLY all pandemic restrictions were lifted in England on Monday but “freedom day” was met with deep concern from scientists as coronavirus cases surge across the nation – and around the world.
LONDON: Virtually all pandemic restrictions were lifted in England on Monday but “freedom day” was met with deep concern from scientists as coronavirus cases surge across the nation -and around the world.
Fuelled by the more infection Delta variant, cases are spiking across the Asia-Pacific, parts of Africa and Europe, and even the heavily vaccinated United States.
Daily infection numbers have also climbed in Britain, topping 50,000.
But despite warnings and accusations of recklessness, restrictions on daily life were lifted in England, with no social distancing and mask requirements.
Sports stadia, cinemas, theatres and nightclubs were allowed to run at full capacity from 2300 GMT Sunday.
“I thought, well, we missed New Year’s, so why not come out and celebrate?” said Nicola Webster Calliste, 29, outside a nightclub in Leeds, northern England.
“It’s like a new chapter.” Covid-19 travel rules and self-isolation for close contacts remain in place.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson – who is self-isolating after his health minister was infected – urged the public to remain prudent and for any laggards to join the two-thirds of UK adults who are now fully vaccinated.
He defended the reopening despite scientists’ grave misgivings after daily infection rates in Britain topped 50,000, behind only Indonesia and Brazil.
“If we don’t do it now, then we’ll be opening up in the autumn, the winter months, when the virus has the advantage of the cold weather,” the prime minister said in a video message.
This week’s start of summer school holidays offered a “precious firebreak”, he said.
“If we don’t do it now, we’ve got to ask ourselves, when will we ever do it? So this is the right moment, but we’ve got to do it cautiously.”
In a bid to demonstrate a bit of caution, vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi told the BBC he would continue to wear a mask in “crowded indoor places”.
But Jonathan Ashworth, the opposition Labour party’s health spokesman, said the government was being “reckless”, echoing experts who say the reopening endangers global health.
“We are against opening up without any precautions in place,” Ashworth told BBC television, attacking in particular the government’s plan on masks.
Scotland and Wales, whose devolved governments set their own health policy, said they would maintain the mask mandate among other curbs.
European nations including Spain and Greece have been forced to reimpose restrictions to battle new outbreaks recently.
The coronavirus is known to have claimed more than four million lives since it emerged in late 2019 but, for some nations in the Asia-Pacific, the worst is still ahead of them.
Indonesia has in recent days overtaken India and Brazil as the global Covid-19 hotspot, with its daily death toll hitting a record 1,205 on Friday.
There are fears people travelling for Eid festivities could spread the virus further, and authorities in the vast Muslim-majority country beefed up roadblocks on Monday for the start of the holidays.
Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, was on Monday placed under partial lockdown, with millions more people in the nation’s south ordered to stay home, a day after the nation recorded its highest daily caseload.
Although Australia has enjoyed far lower case numbers than most nations, it is also struggling with outbreaks in its two biggest cities.
In Myanmar, where hospitals are empty because of a longrunning strike against the military junta, volunteers are going house-to-house to collect bodies for burials.
“We are running our service without resting,” Than Than Soe told AFP at the bustling office of her volunteer group.