Britain appears currently to be in a strong position, with almost 40 million combined first and second vaccine doses now administered.
In England, all shops are reopening from Monday along with hairdressers, beauty salons, and other close-contact services. Restaurants and pubs are allowed to serve food and alcohol to customers sitting outdoors. Meanwhile, gyms, spas, zoos, theme parks, libraries, and community centers can all open.
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed the latest progress as "a major step forward in our roadmap to freedom".
"I urge everyone to continue to behave responsibly and remember 'hands, face, space and fresh air' to suppress COVID as we push on with our vaccination program," he said.
Britain appears currently to be in a strong position, with almost 40 million combined first and second vaccine doses now administered.
However, British scientists have warned that the government is risking a third wave of COVID-19 by easing the lockdown too soon as some parts of Britain still have higher rates of infection.
The global death count from COVID has increased again.
— Our World in Data (@OurWorldInData) April 13, 2021
12,000 people died every day during the last week.
This is mostly due to a strong increase in deaths in Asia and South America – see next tweet. pic.twitter.com/lwGVtSbFN6
"We need to tackle that issue urgently or the virus will come back again," Leeds University medical school Associate Professor Stephen Griffin pointed out.
"It's worrying. There are far too many virus hotspots and not enough attention being paid to controlling infections that might spread from them," said Griffin.
Ireland also started to ease some of its COVID-19 restrictions as scheduled. People are allowed to travel freely within the county where they live or within 20 kilometers from their home, in-classroom education for primary and secondary school students resumed, and all residential construction projects reopened.
The UK's War on Venezuelan Democracy@pablonav1 & @Rachaelb20 talk to @jmcevoy_2.
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) April 12, 2021
An event by #UK independent media outlet @TheCanaryUKhttps://t.co/LnGOdKGKL6