Thursday, March 28

First day without a mask or passport in England despite the high number of deaths from Covid


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They finished teleworking, masks and health passports. England recovers almost normality this Thursday with the lifting restrictions, thanks to an improvement in the pandemic that will soon see the tests of travelers and the quarantines of those infected also disappear.

“It is time to have a normal lifeIt’s been almost two years and it’s time for everyone to take responsibility,” Julia, a 28-year-old Spaniard who works in a London restaurant and prefers not to give her last name, told AFP. Recalling that “in Spain you have to wear a mask everywhere, even if there is no one on the street,” he says “preferring British restrictions.”

In his restaurant, near the central Saint Paul Cathedral, a mainly office neighborhood, there are now more customers since the government has stopped calling telecommuting, he says, although some continue to cover their faces out of prudence.

The use of masks has ceased to be mandatory this Thursday in closed places – it has never been abroad – but some businesses may advise or require it, like the London Underground. And it is at the discretion of venues such as nightclubs or sports stadiums to voluntarily establish whether they require health passports.

These measures, of the lightest in Europe, were introduced by the government of Boris Johnson in mid-December, despite opposition from his own deputies, seeking to gain time to administer more vaccines in the face of the skyrocketing of cases driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant.

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Now “more than 83% of those over 12 years old in the United Kingdom they received their second dose and 81% of those eligible had their booster vaccine, ”said the Ministry of Health on Thursday.

The controversial prime minister announced his removal last week among other measures aimed at pleasing the most liberal ranks of his Conservative Party, where numerous deputies are considering launching a motion of censure against their leader for the accusations of violation of the confinements in the last two years with numerous parties in Downing Street.

Relaxation comes by taking advantage of «hospital admissions stabilize, Omicron infections are declining and the number of people in intensive care with covid-19 continues to decline,” the ministry said in a statement.

One of the countries hardest hit by Covid-19, with 154,700 deaths since the start of the pandemic, the United Kingdom registered on Wednesday 102,292 new cases among a population of 67 million. However, the figures for daily deaths are still very high: the previous day there were 346 new deaths.

The other three nations that make up the country and decide their own health policies also relaxed some restrictions: from Monday Scotland no longer limits gatherings, Wales will reopen nightclubs on Friday and Northern Ireland did so on Wednesday although it continues to require health passports.

But the lifting of measures does not stop there. “This country is open for business, open for travelers,” said Johnson, eager to revive the economy and to satisfy hard-hit sectors such as air transport and tourism, by announcing that from February 11 travelers with a complete vaccination schedule will no longer have to undergo a covid-19 test upon arrival in England.

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And, going further, he stated last week that he has no intention of extending the regulations that impose a quarantine of between 5 and 10 days on positive cases of covid-19. This expires on March 24, but its removal could even be brought forward, he said. “Wow, it’s just like old times! It is as if we are going back to London before” the pandemic, exclaimed near Saint Paul Elizabeth Hynes, a 71-year-old retiree, who claims to have seen many people around her lately infected but without serious symptoms. “The new variant is softer and we have to live with it,” he adds.

However, scientists warn of possible more virulent future mutations. “As we learn to live with Covid, we must remain vigilant,” said the Minister of Health, Sajid Javid, calling to vaccinate those who have not yet done so.

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