London
London Mayor Sadiq Khan called on citizens to remember the COVID-19 rules ahead of the so-called Super Saturday on July 4, when England’s pubs and restaurants will reopen after quarantine, noting that additional police will be deployed to the city to monitor the situation.
Several social distancing restrictions are scheduled to be lifted in England on July 4 as part of the government’s plans to reopen the economy. Pubs, cafes, restaurants, museums, hotels and hairdressers will all be allowed to reopen. Meanwhile, nightclubs, beauty salons and gyms will remain closed. However, there are still concerns that a large flow of people going out for the first time in over three months might lead to disorder in some areas and a possible new surge in COVID-19 cases.
“This Saturday should not be seen as a ‘Super Saturday’ or like a New Year’s eve. This is a Saturday, when some restrictions are being eased. Yes, you can grab a drink, you can go to a cafe, a bar or a restaurant. We have got to remember that we are in the midst of a global pandemic, the virus is still there.
We have seen what happened in Leicester. We have got to avoid its second wave as a consequence of our actions,” Khan told the Sky news broadcaster.
According to Khan, “there will be additional police around this Saturday and over the course of the next few days” including to encourage people in London to remember the COVID-19 rules.
Notably, the city of Leicester reentered a strict COVID-19 quarantine earlier in the week amid the lifting of restrictions in the rest of the country after Public Health England figures revealed that there were at least 45 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in the week of June 21.—AFP
