As several European nations tighten up to combat a spike in coronavirus infections, life in Britain is almost back to normal. Not for the first time in the pandemic, Britain is out of step with many of its neighbors. This time, it’s happy to be different.
, as several European nations tighten up or even lock down to combat a spike in coronavirus infections.
The surge that is now hitting mainland Europe, driven by the highly transmissible delta strain of the virus, walloped Britain in the summer, just as the government removed all remaining legal restrictions on the economy and daily life. The World Health Organization said this week that Europe is the only region of the world where coronavirus cases are rising, and the continent could see another 700,000 deaths by the spring unless urgent measures are taken soon.Many scientists predicted the country would see a spike in cases after July 19 — dubbed “Freedom Day” by the media — whenInfection rates that were then among the highest in Europe, drifted up and down but never soared again as feared, though they remain stubbornly high.
Visitors from countries where restrictions are still in place are sometimes taken aback by Britain’s voluntary, variable approach to mask use and social distancing. But Ivo Vlaev, a behavioral scientist at the University of Warwick who has studied data from across Europe, says people in the U.K. have largely stuck to protective measures — including limiting their contacts with others — even when they were no longer required by law.
While some European countries are turning to compulsion to get more people vaccinated, the U.K. is sticking with persuasion. Britain does not widely require proof of vaccination attend events or workplaces, and the government has ruled out mandating vaccines for everyone, though health and social care workers have been ordered to get shots.
“Get your booster as soon as you can,” the prime minister said this week. “Because it is by vaccinating our country that we have been able to get your staff back to their place of work, to open our theaters, our restaurants and get back for longer now than any comparator country, to something like normal life.”
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