“Free Day” or “Anxiety Day”? England ends the curb of COVID-19 | Mighty 790KFGO

Natalie Thomas and Alistair Smout

London (Reuters) – As England’s so-called “Freedom Day” approaches, the imminent end-of-life excitement of the COVID-19 limit is eased by growing fears of incidents and complete fear among the vulnerable.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to move England to Step 4 (end of legal blockade) on Monday.

This means that the last remaining businesses, including nightclubs, that were still closed can finally be reopened.

“At some point, we need to find a way forward,” said Eugene Wild, co-founder of The Cause Club in northern London, which has been closed since March 2020.

He likes to test people in front of the club, but is afraid of another shutdown if things go wrong. “I don’t think we can do this again and survive economically,” he added, at a 1,200-seat venue that opens after midnight when the curb of a party called Adonis ends.

In the Netherlands, nightclubs opened again for two weeks and then closed again, but Israel also imposed some restrictions as incidents increased.

Johnson acknowledges a wave of infections when restrictions are lifted and more deaths are inevitable, but the continued closure of the economy has caused worse harm and the successful deployment of the vaccine has resulted in the successful deployment of the vaccine. He said the number of serious cases has decreased.

Many scientists have pointed out the more contagious delta variants that have become dominant in the UK as they have changed their calculations since the roadmap was developed in February.

“The exit wave is inevitable … only if you do nothing about it,” UCL professor Christina Pagel of operations research told Reuters.

“Delta changed the equation, which made it much harder to rely on vaccination to lower the case on its own.”

The UK has the seventh highest death toll in the world, but two-thirds of adults are vaccinated twice.

This gives Johnson confidence in pushing for restrictions relaxation after a four-week delay by Delta. He states that summer, when schools are closed and pressure on medical services is low, is a cautious but perfect time to reopen.

Worried scientist

However, Health Minister Sajid Javid said the incident could reach 100,000 people a day, in a letter accusing the government’s strategy of being “unscientific and unethical” by more than 1,000 scientists. signed.

Critics say this strategy not only causes death, but also debilitates long-term COVID in many, while increasing the risk to clinically vulnerable people.

“It’s a dangerous mistake to runaway an infectious disease in the country,” Stephen Griffin, an associate professor at the University of Leeds School of Medicine, told Reuters.

“Our vaccine does not yet believe that this is at a level sufficient to be done safely.”

Luke Peters, author and double lung transplanter with cystic fibrosis, said vulnerable people were forgotten.

“While everyone is watching Monday, July 19th, the so-called Free Day, because it makes it virtually impossible for people like me to enter a crowded space … it’s more for many of us. It’s an uneasy day, “he told Reuters.

Anxiety may be a factor that saves the country from the worst scenarios. Graham Medley, chair of the modeling subgroup of the government’s scientific advisory group, said public behavior was an important variable.

Medley, a professor of infectious disease modeling at the London School of Economics and Tropical Medicine, told Reuters that “it’s almost impossible to eliminate that uncertainty because we don’t know how people behave. “.

Two-thirds of Britain believe that at least some restrictions should be maintained after July 19, a study said Thursday.

Local rules such as masks, which remain mandatory for transportation in London, can also have an impact.

Mark Baglin, an infectious disease instructor at Imperial College London, told Reuters that the modeling was reflected in government advice.

“It might be much better if this is more gradual and people continue to take certain preventative actions,” he added.

(Written by Alistair Smout, edited by Andrew Cawthorne)