London (AFP) – Some of the beer may be stale for being in barrels for more than three months, but the British were still eager to drink it on Saturday when England reopened its beloved pubs and raised a wave of other coronavirus restrictions.
“We’ve been waiting three or four months to get back to the bars,” said Nick, a 38-year-old accountant who went out for a pint with three friends for the first time since everything closed in late March.
“At some point you have to go out again,” he said of the lingering dangers of a disease that has officially killed more people in Britain, 44,131, than anywhere else in Europe.
The government is trying to convince its hospitality sector to come back to life in what has been touted as “Super Saturday.”
Restaurants can finally open their doors to customers, and barbers can pull out their clippers. More people can gather for picnics without being approached and warned by the police.
“It couldn’t wait,” said Dorota Pilarczyk, manager of a London pub.
“Mentally I am very happy. The closing has been quite hard.”
Going into the spirit, The Spectator magazine warned against the dangers of drinking stale beer in pubs that were closed in a hurry, suggesting that a pint might actually taste better on Sunday.
And Rishi Sunak, the finance minister, urged the British to “eat out to help,” noting that pubs and restaurants often employed younger people entering the job market for the first time.
“This is really about social justice,” said Sunak.
But security was still on many people’s minds and he feared that social distancing measures might be forgotten as blood alcohol levels rise until late at night.
“I am not a party pooper,” said Health Secretary Matt Hancock, “but the virus can still kill.”
– “It’s not worth the risk” –
The first national pub closure since the Great Plague of 1665 had seen sales drop to the lowest level recorded last month.
This pent-up demand could drive pub sales up nearly 75 percent to £ 210 million ($ 262 million) this weekend, the expert group from the Center for Business and Economics Research said.
But a walk through a pub district in London’s Greenwich neighborhood showed that nine stores were still closed.
One only had two clients having a drink in the garden on a cold but dry afternoon.
In the center of Newcastle in northeast England, where pubs are normally full on weekends, only one in three will be open, the local council said.
Some decided to sit down the first weekend and see how safe it was to reopen.
“We are truly concerned that this may be a day of total chaos for the pub trade,” the owners of the popular Tyne Bar on the city’s dock said in a tweet.
“We have decided that it is not worth the risk.”
Government guidelines insist on “minimal contact” between staff and customers, with table service only and without standing in the bar.
Drinkers will also have to give contact details in the event of an outbreak, although a group may designate a single person who can then pass on any bad news to the rest.
– Do not mess it up! –
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called on the public to use common sense. “My message is, let’s not explain this now, folks,” he told LBC radio on Friday.
“We have worked very hard and together we saved so many lives,” he tweeted Saturday. “Stick to the rules.”
Johnson’s handling of the entire crisis is under increasing scrutiny, and his approval ratings have plummeted in the past month.
He has been forced to defend his decision to reopen bars on a weekend rather than a Monday, when the crowds could have been smaller and the owners more able to solve any initial problems.
Emergency services have also warned the public not to overdo it.
West Yorkshire Police Federation chief Brian Booth said local accident and emergency departments were “akin to a circus full of drunk clowns” before the outbreak.
“We don’t need this one more time,” he said.
