Boris Johnson is expected to permit unlimited exercise as well as allowing picnics and sunbathing in parks after six weeks of lockdown, but rather than being thrilled by new freedoms, many Britons want to be kept housebound.
The UK has seen significant curbs on personal freedoms since March, with travel restricted to essential trips only, just one outing for exercise a day otherwise permitted, and the shuttering of most shops to curb the spread of Covid-19.
On Thursday, the front pages of the UK’s newspapers gleefully revealed that the government planned to ease restrictions after the WWII Victory in Europe commemorative bank-holiday weekend, with headlines such as “Happy Monday” and “Hurrah! Lockdown freedom beckons.”
But rather than the proposed new freedoms being met with joy, fearful citizens took to Twitter with #KeepTheLockdown trending in the UK. Some accused the British tabloids of “massively misjudging the public mood,” while others said lifting the lockdown would be “political murder”.
“What could possibly justify ending the lockdown?”asked former Labour MP Laura Pidcock, adding, “Do we have the virus under control? Mass testing capacity? Ability to trace & track? No… #KeepTheLockdown”
However, others welcomed the news, branding calls to extend the lockdown “mob rule” and pointing out that people who wanted to stay at home could do so, but “you don’t get to tell the rest of us what to do.”
The government is due to review lockdown measures on Thursday, with Boris Johnson set to address the nation on Sunday. Unlimited exercise is expected to be permitted, outdoor spaces to be reopened, and picnics and sunbathing to be allowable once more, as long as social distancing is maintained. More people will also likely be allowed to return to work, now that the “stay at home” advice has been scrapped.
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