Brits danced and sang on the streets of Liverpool and Newcastle last night as pubs and bars in England reopened for service indoors.

Punters can now sit inside hospitality venues, including restaurants and cafes, in groups of up to six people. In Newcastle, hundreds of people took full advantage of the new rules, as they queued up for bars in the city centre.

Several men could be seen in fancy dress for the occasion, while groups of friends threw their arms around each other to celebrate being allowed to hug. At one point, the police were photographed talking to the crowds.

Ministers have warned people to think carefully before hugging those not in their household, with Health Secretary Matt Hancock advising Brits to do so outside.

Many venues marked the change in Covid restrictions by reopening at midnight and welcoming punters to drink until the early hours. Nightclubs have also rebranded themselves as bars and are allowing guests to sit at tables on the dancefloors inside.

Nightclubs are not due to reopen for dancing in England until June 21 the earliest, when social distancing rules could come to an end for good.

However, the date could be put in jeopardy due by a new variant of Covid which was first identified in India. The strain could be as much as 50% more infectious than other mutations, and is now dominant in 20 areas across England.

Boris Johnson told reporters last week he was ‘cautiously optimistic’ about meeting the target date for ending all restrictions.

He said: ‘I think we have to wait a little bit longer to see how the data is looking but I am cautiously optimistic about that and provided this Indian variant doesn’t take off in the way some people fear, I think certainly things could get back much, much closer to normality.’

He added: ‘If we have to do other things, then of course the public would want us to rule nothing out. We have always been clear we would be led by the data.

‘At the moment, I can see nothing that dissuades me from thinking we will be able to go ahead on Monday and indeed on June 21, everywhere, but there may be things we have to do locally and we will not hesitate to do them if that is the advice we get.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Source: Read Full Article