Fury as scenes from weekend show hordes of people refusing to social distance

Over the weekend, England made a huge step towards trying to return back to normal – opening pubs.

On 4 July, a lot of restrictions were eased – hairdressers and museums could reopen. But the place that was the subject of the most discussion was the pub.

Videos and photos from the weekend show hordes of people in Soho in London, with many not wearing masks, and similar scenes around the country.

The R rate in London rose to over one – which means that cases of Covid-19 are rising again – which was also a source of concern, just before lockdown was eased. Other parts of England are still in lockdown, or facing rising cases.

Soho in central London was obviously packed full of people – who were not social distancing at all, as was obvious from the photos.

Later on in the night showed much of the same issue.

Footage on Sky News showed a group of friends out and about, who said themselves – it was pretty obvious they weren’t socially distancing, but they were having fun.

People pointed out that even though the official guidance was to socially distance, it really wasn’t being followed – and that the government should have known better.

People were angry.

Some pointed out that NHS workers would be frustrated after working for so many months to keep the health service running – only to now find that people were going out and getting drunk.

Others pointed out that they had been waiting and shielding for over five months, in order to make sure that they would even be able to survive.

The Guardian reported that initial reports seemed to suggest that worries about emergency services being overwhelmed may not have come true, but it’s still too early to tell whether or not this weekend will lead to a spread in Covid-19 infections.