Pubs, restaurants in England to reopen as virus toll eases

LONDON (AP) — Millions of people in Britain will be able to go to the pub, visit a movie theatre, get a haircut or attend a religious service starting July 4, in a major loosening of coronavirus lockdown restrictions.

But they will have to wait a bit longer to see a concert, get a tattoo or go to the gym.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday that “our long national hibernation is beginning to come to an end,” announcing that restaurants, bars, hotels, hairdressers, cinemas and museums will be able to reopen next month.

Other businesses where people are in close contact, including gyms, pools, spas and tattoo parlours have to stay shut for now.

“We cannot lift all the restrictions at once, so we have to make difficult judgements,” Johnson said.

The government’s decision will help thaw a British economy that has been in deep freeze since March, when a nationwide lockdown was imposed to slow the spread of the virus.

Since then, Britain has suffered Europe’s worst coronavirus outbreak, with almost 42,700 confirmed dead, the third-highest total in the world behind the United States and Brazil.

Johnson said that the more the country opened up, “the more vigilant we will have to be.”

The government said the looser restrictions were a big step on the road back to normality. 

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