‘I want to dance’: London clubbers applaud end of COVID restrictions

LONDON, July 19 (Reuters) – London clubbers flocked to one of the first live music events without rules since the pandemic started last year on Monday, dancing the night away and rejoicing in human interaction as England lifted most COVID restrictions at midnight.

Britain, which has one of the world’s highest death tolls from COVID, faces a new wave of cases, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson lifts most restrictions in England in what some have nicknamed “Freedom Day”.

Epidemiologists are generally skeptical that lifting restrictions is the right thing to do, but many young Britons are fed up with more than a year and a half of lockdown and have said they want to party .

“I haven’t been allowed to dance for what feels like an eternity,” said Georgia Pike, 31, at the Oval Space in Hackney, east London. “I want to dance, I want to hear live music, I want the atmosphere of a concert, to be surrounded by other people.”

Besides the fun of it, however, there was also clear concern about a wave of new cases – more than 50,000 a day across the UK.

“I’m so excited – but it’s mixed with the feeling of impending doom,” Gary Cartmill, 26, said outside of the “00:01” event held to celebrate the return of live music.

Inside the club, revelers, some with pints in hand, others just elated by the music, danced the night away. Many kissed, some kissed, a few wore masks.

After rushing to vaccinate its population faster than almost any other European country, Johnson’s government is betting England can reopen because fully vaccinated people are less likely to become seriously ill with COVID-19.

The promoters of the event, Rob Broadbent and Max Wheeler-Bowden, have put together a video of themselves taking a COVID test. They urged those who were asked to self-isolate to do so.

They said they reduced the number of groups and the number of venues and lost money on the event because fewer people than expected attended.

British society appears divided over restrictions: some want tough rules to continue because they fear the virus will continue to kill people, but others have resented the most onerous restrictions in peacetime history.

Business owners – including nightclubs, travel agencies and the hospitality industry – desperately wanted to reopen the economy while many students, young people and parents quietly ignored many of the more onerous rules.

Artists say the lockdown has been difficult.

James Cox, the 32-year-old frontman of Crows, a post-punk band playing The Oval Space, said the last time he performed live was at Halloween 2020.

“Before that, I was a little afraid that I wouldn’t like him because it’s been so long,” Cox said. “As soon as I got on stage and started doing scales, I was like, oh yeah I like that, I like that, I was like, it’s my passion.”

Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge. Editing by Gerry Doyle and Kate Holton

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