Britain's Gamble: 'Freedom Day' Announced Amid Rising COVID Cases
Voice of America
LONDON - Britain is about to try something that no other nation has yet dared: lifting coronavirus restrictions amid a new wave of infections.
The government says that with more than half of Britons now fully vaccinated, the time is right to reopen in the coming weeks. However, some scientists have warned that a sudden reopening of the economy and society is a big gamble as infection numbers rise. In a televised press conference Monday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined the end to lockdown measures beginning July 19. “Our vaccines have helped to break the link between disease and death,” Johnson said. “And as the days have gone by, it has grown ever clearer that these vaccines are indeed successful, with a majority of those admitted to hospital unvaccinated.”A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's rocket launch during a news program at a bus terminal in Seoul, South Korea, May 27, 2024. FILE - Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks to reporters in Colombo, July 29, 2023. FILE - A TV screen shows a report of North Korea's spy satellite into orbit with its third launch attempt this year with an image of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 22, 2023.
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.