British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s backers have enthusiastically dubbed it “Freedom Day” — July 19, when the government is expected to lift nearly all coronavirus-related restrictions in England. “We are a petri dish for the world.”Here is some background on the potential risks and gains in Johnson’s latest COVID-19 gambit. The planned July 19 lifting of most restrictions is being touted by Johnson as a milestone, but the prime minister, characteristically, has left himself some wriggle room. The 57-year-old prime minister himself had a near-fatal case of COVID-19 last year, and Britain’s death tally of 128,000 is the highest in western Europe. And having embraced Brexit, Britain’s departure from the European Union that took final effect this year, the prime minister is eager to avoid further coronavirus-caused damage as Britain absorbs Brexit’s economic hit.

Source: Los Angeles Times July 06, 2021 21:22 UTC