Covid-19: Europe loosens its grip

Pubs and restaurants in England are expected to be given the go-ahead to serve customers indoors from next week after coronavirus infection rates hit their lowest level since September.

People sit at cafe terraces in Brussels on Sunday. Picture: AFP

Pubs and restaurants in England are expected to be given the go-ahead to serve customers indoors from next week after coronavirus infection rates hit their lowest level since September.

Prime Minister was expected on Monday to approve the easing of restrictions outlined in the road map out of lockdown. From next Monday, people will be ­allowed to meet indoors in groups of six or across two households.

Pubs and restaurants, as well as hotels, hostels, cinemas and children’s play centres will be able to reopen their doors to customers. Indoor group exercise classes will also be allowed to gather.

Mr Johnson is likely to confirm that people can use their “personal judgment” about whether to hug close relatives, The Telegraph newspaper said.

A third of UK adults have now been fully inoculated and more than 35 million people have received their first dose of the vaccine. The government has pledged to offer every adult a vaccine by the end of July.

Meanwhile, there were clashes with police at the weekend as tens of thousands of young people celebrated the ending of curfews in Spain and Belgium with illegal street parties.

Police had to clear the Puerta del Sol plaza in Madrid as thousands gathered to mark the end of the curfew, chanting “freedom” and “we’ve come to get drunk and we don’t care about the result”. Households had been banned from mixing since October.

In Barcelona police said they had to disperse more than 6500 people who had gathered to drink in the city’s squares and beaches. Spain is easing restrictions even as infections remain high.

In Brussels, police used water cannon to break up crowds of several thousand partying in the Place Flagey in the early hours of Sunday.

The Times