England reopens bars, hairdressers and shops after almost four months of confinement due to coronavirus

The hairdressers were full, queues formed outside shops and some pubs began serving beers first thing in the morning. After almost four months of confinement for coronavirus, England a long-awaited new phase of relaxation debuted on Monday.

“Let me in!”, shouted a young man who waited impatiently with his friends outside the “Half Moon” pub in East London before, like everyone else in the Wetherspoons chain, it opened its doors to start serving pints of beer at nine in the morning.

Starting this Monday, bars and restaurants in England they can open their terraces – the interior service will have to wait until May 17 – and the freezing temperatures did not seem to discourage many of the 56 million inhabitants of the region.

The autonomous governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland decide their own policies against the pandemic and their schedules of deconfinement.

“Act responsibly”

With nearly 127,000 dead, the UK It is the country most affected in Europe by covid-19. But, confined for the third time since January, December in places like London, the country registers a very low number of new deaths (7 on Sunday), infections (1,730) and hospitalizations (221) daily.

Showing much greater caution than in the first lockdown from March to June last year, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a roadmap that foresees, if there are no surprises, a new phase of relaxation every five weeks.

The first began on March 8, but was limited to the reopening of schools and the authorization to see up to five people abroad.

The executive, however, maintained the slogan of teleworking and on Monday called on the population to “act responsibly” to avoid a new surge in infections, which would once again paralyze an economy that was already heavily punished.

Today’s relaxation “I’m sure it will be a great relief to the owners of businesses that have been closed for so long and, for everyone else, it is an opportunity to start doing some of the things that we love and have done. missed, “said Johnson.

This long-awaited date was however clouded by the sudden death on Friday of Prince Philip, the 99-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II, who plunged the country into a period of national mourning until his funeral next Saturday.

Thus, the prime minister, who in addition to needing an urgent haircut, had declared himself eager to have a beer in a pub announced that he would leave the latter for later.

All official events were suspended, including press conferences on the development of the pandemic, and Parliament shortened its Easter holidays to hold a special session in honor of the late Duke of Edinburgh on Monday.

60% of adults vaccinated

In addition to terraces and shops, swimming pools and gyms -although without group classes-, cultural centers and libraries and holiday rentals -but not yet hotels- opened in England, restricted only to the family nucleus.

This new phase of deconfinement is supported by a successful massive vaccination campaign, which has already administered a first dose of the AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to more than 32 million people and the second to 7.5 million.

Almost 60% of adults received an injection and health authorities hope to begin vaccinating those under 50 years of age soon.

However, the goal is to have reached the entire adult population by the end of July could be altered by the decision last week to limit the administration of AstraZeneca to those over 30 years as a precaution against the appearance of a few cases of rare thrombi.

The English will have to wait, however, until May 17 to be able to return to shows and museums and see family and friends indoors.

This is the case, the health authorities warned, as long as the number of cases does not skyrocket due to the arrival of new variants or non-respect of the rules.