
England takes a big Covid-19 gamble as Johnson plans to scrap remaining lockdown rules
CNN
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is setting out his plan to lift most of England's remaining coronavirus restrictions by mid-July, despite warnings from some experts that the current surge of Delta variant cases across the country means such moves were premature.
Johnson was due to announce changes to the rules on social distancing, face coverings and working from home at a news conference on Monday afternoon. The Prime Minister was expected to reiterate that Covid-19 would "become a virus that we learn to live with as we already do with flu," Downing Street said Sunday. The move is part of the government's roadmap out of lockdown which was delayed last month to no earlier than July 19. A final decision on what has been dubbed "Freedom Day" will be made in a week's time following a review of the latest data.
More than two decades ago, on January 24, 2004, I landed in Baghdad as a legal adviser, assigned an office in what was then known as the Green Zone. It was raining and cold, and my duffle bag was thrown into a puddle off the C-130 aircraft that had just done a corkscrew dive to reach the runway without risk of ground fire. Young American soldiers greeted me as we piled into a vehicle, sped out of the airport complex and then along a road called the “Highway of Death” due to car bombs and snipers.












