Members of staff at The Piano Works club in Farringdon, London, Friday, July 16, 2021, prepare for its reopening as part of the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions. Thousands of young people plan to dance the night away at “Freedom Day” parties as the clock strikes midnight Monday, when almost all coronavirus restrictions in England are due to be scrapped. Nightclubs, which have been shuttered since March 2020, can finally reopen with no occupancy restrictions or mask and testing requirements. Its “Freedom Day” bash starts Sunday with a countdown to midnight, when staff members plan to cut a ribbon to the dance floor and serve customers free prosecco. But leading international scientists on Friday described England’s “Freedom Day” as a threat to the whole world, and 1,200 scientists backed a letter to British medical journal The Lancet that criticized the government's decision.

Source: The Herald July 18, 2021 10:30 UTC