Boris Johnson urges Brits to enjoy freedom with a heavy dose of caution as pubs fully open and hugs allowed again thesun.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thesun.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Indian Covid variant has caused growing concern in the UK where cases almost doubled in a week. Official data on Friday revealed that four Brits have died in the UK after contracting the mutant strain. Cases of the Indian variant, also known as the B16172 strain, rose from 520 last week to more than 1,300 as of May 12. In a press conference on Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned the Indian coronavirus variant could “pose a serious.
Donkeys return to Blackpool beach for first time since lockdown started
Nick McDermott
17:09 ET, May 5 2021
DONKEYS have returned to Blackpool beach for the first time since lockdown as the UK rode high with another triple vaccine boost.
In the latest sign a great British summer is just around the corner, the seaside favourites are back entertaining families on the seaside.
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Owner Mark Ineson, 43, said: “The donkeys, like me, are champing at the bit to go and meet and entertain our customers again after a terrible 14 months.
“This week we finally returned to Blackpool beach and last Saturday it felt great for all of us to be working again.
The PM floated the idea of extending a new ‘Covid certification scheme’ to the hospitality sector last month - and argued: It should not be totally alien to us.
But faced with huge opposition, as well as plunging Covid rates, Mr Johnson is understood to be turning against the idea.
One government source told the Daily Mail: I would be amazed if we introduce Covid certification for hospitality this summer. The focus is more on big events and reopening sectors that we struggled to open last year.
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But the suggestion sparked a huge backlash and it s reported that the PM has quietly dropped the ideaCredit: AFP
Leading scientists are calling on the Government to remove all coronavirus restrictions and allow people to ‘take back control of their own lives’ when the ‘roadmap’ to freedom ends in June.
With real-world data showing vaccines reduce the risk of death by 98 per cent and hospitalisations by more than 80 per cent, the experts say Covid-19 is being turned into a ‘mild’ disease in Britain, akin to the flu.
In an open letter to The Mail on Sunday, they criticise ‘confused and contradictory’ messages from Ministers and scientific advisers about the virus, which they say are exaggerating the real threat.
The signatories of the letter include Carl Heneghan - Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford