LONDON, Jul 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) – England lifted almost all its remaining COVID-19 restrictions yesterday, according to its roadmap out of lockdown.
As the number of daily infections continues to rapidly increase, the final stage of easing virus restrictions came with a note of caution.
Yesterday was described by the British government as Freedom Day, where almost all legal restrictions on social contact have been removed.
The detailed arrangement of the final step out of lockdown includes: no more limits on social contact, to allow people to gather in groups of any size; removing the “one metre-plus” rule in almost all settings, except for specific places, such as airports; no capacity caps on large scale events; and people are no longer required to work from home, among other changes. Face coverings will be recommended in some spaces, but not required by law.
The government said, the removal of restrictions is the right step, despite the rising number of infections in much of the country.
Recent swab tests show that, one in every 95 people has the virus in England, up from one in every 160, from the previous week, and the more infectious Delta variant accounts for almost every case.
Reactions by members of the public towards Freedom Day are mixed. Some say the virus has more “freedom” than the public, but others look forward to a life resembling normalcy.
