Evening Read: The Great Reopening is well under way
As Reopening Day is slowly maturing, Monday the 17th of May will most likely go down in pandemic history as a day full of positive post-lockdown news, and very mixed weather.
From today, people in England can meet outdoors in groups of up to 30, and indoors in groups of six, or two households, with pubs and restaurants able to serve customers inside.
Some drinkers took advantage of the relaxations to sink pints early in the day.
One of those inside the Showtime Bar was 20-year-old Finlay Woodhead, who could barely contain his excitement at being back in a pub.
“I’m over the moon, I’ve been waiting so long,” he said. It’s so nice to be sat inside where it’s warm. I love it, honestly, I love it.”
In addition to hospitality venues, museums, cinemas and other indoor attractions have reopened their doors today, the “stay in the UK” restriction has been lifted.
In fact, the first round of holidaymakers has left Britain by the time you read this, as we are able to go on holiday again, primarily to “green list” countries including Portugal and Israel.
This means there is no need to quarantine on return, provided they take one post-arrival test.
Roadmap
In addition to today’s lockdown easing, there is less than a 50 per cent chance that the 21 June plan for lifting all legal limits on social contact will be delayed, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said earlier today.
Professor Graham Medley, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, offered a degree of optimism about the summer though he stressed the Indian variant meant things were still uncertain.
Added to that, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng also insisted that the 21 June date for the ending of restrictions in England was likely to be met.
“People should have common sense, they should use judgment and I think if we act in a reasonable way, there is no reason to suppose that we can’t reopen the economy entirely on 21 June,” Kwarteng told Sky News earlier today.
On LBC Radio, Kwarteng added: “We need to be cautious because if we get too carried away and the mutant variant spreads too quickly, that could endanger our ability to open up on 21 June.”
Will the Indian variant be the party pooper?
The main cause for concern remains the Indian variant, which is on the way to becoming the dominant strain in some places including Bolton and Blackburn, less so in London.
A major campaign has been launched to encourage people in those areas to receive a jab.
Kwarteng said he did not want to “stigmatise people” over vaccine hesitancy, but told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “We’re not exactly where we want to be among certain communities but I think the take-up has been much greater in the last few months and more and more people are convinced that this is the way to keep themselves and their families safe.”
Dr Helen Wall, who is leading the vaccination effort in Bolton, said that over the weekend more than 6,200 vaccines were administered in the area.
She told BBC Breakfast this morning that before the weekend there were around 10,000 people in the area in the highest priority groups, those deemed to be clinically vulnerable and the over-50s, who were yet to be vaccinated, but added: “I’m hoping that we’ve made a big dent into that now”.
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said there were “concerns” about small numbers of older people who are yet to take up their vaccine offer.
“The biggest risk comes from, if there are large numbers of older people who are unvaccinated,” he told Times Radio earlier today.