A Victoria health official has admitted that playgrounds have been shut in the state during lockdowns not because of the risk of children spreading Covid but to stop parents from being able to meet.
Most leading Russell Group universities will continue to hold lectures online when the university year starts this autumn, and students at some will be told they must still wear face masks and follow social distancing.
Locking older people indoors away from loved ones has left "deep physical and emotional scars", according to Age U.K., with new research suggesting that the health of millions of Brits has deteriorated during lockdown.
If clubs and bars are anything to go by, many Brits clearly want to return to normal, with thousands of punters packing out venues across the country on Friday night – the beginning of the first weekend since July 19th.
The finality of the July 19th "terminus date" is being put to test as SAGE scientists are telling the Government to reintroduce some restrictions, including mandatory face masks, to keep the figures "under control".
BBC News has published an article highlighting "calls" - just one call, actually – for the introduction of wearable symbols showing that the wearer has a weakened immune system and would like to keep a distance.
The BBC is offering white lanyards to its staff who are returning to offices but wish to continue social distancing. Employees have also been asked to say whether they have been vaccinated but can return either way.
Students at the University of Oxford have been instructed that the institution's rules on social distancing, face masks and working from home will not change after "Freedom Day" because "Covid remains a real threat".
Almost four million clinically vulnerable people have been told by the Government to continue taking "additional precautions" to protect themselves against Covid, including avoiding those who have not been vaccinated.
There's was a particularly downbeat tone to the Prime Minister's speech on Monday evening in which he said that the country can proceed with easing lockdown restrictions on July 19th, but "with caution".
