London clubbers on Monday joyfully reacted to one of the first rule-free live music events since the beginning of the pandemic last year, they were seen happily dancing the whole night as they experienced the first public human interaction in what they described as “ages of lockdown.”
England recently lifted most of its COVID restrictions at midnight, though the pandemic has not been completely eliminated, with a record of more than 50,000 cases per day across the United Kingdom since Friday last week and the UK’s health minister, Sajid Javid testing positive despite taking the vaccine.
READ ALSO: COVID-19: UK health minister tests positive after taking vaccine
Britain, which has one of the world’s highest death tolls from COVID, is facing a new wave of cases but Prime Minister Boris Johnson is lifting most restrictions in England in what the citizens call “Freedom Day”.
Epidemiologists are generally sceptical that lifting restrictions is the right thing to do but many young British people have had enough of more than 1 1/2 years of lockdowns and insisted they need some fresh air and public interactions.
“I have not been allowed to dance for like what seems like forever,” said Georgia Pike, 31, at the Oval Space in Hackney, east London. “I want to dance, I want to hear live music, I want the vibe of being at a gig, of being around other people.”
“I am so excited – but it’s mixed with the sense of impending doom,” said Gary Cartmill, 26.
British society appears split on the restrictions: some want tough rules to continue as they fear the virus will keep killing people, but others have chafed at the most onerous restrictions in peacetime history.
Business owners – including nightclubs, travel companies and the hospitality industry – have been desperate to reopen the economy.
After the release of the vaccine, the British government had urgently vaccinated its population faster than almost all other European countries
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