Prime Minister Boris Johnson's 'Freedom Day' ending over a year of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in England was marred by surging infections, warnings of supermarket shortages and his own forced self-isolation.
Clubbers flocked on Monday to the first live music events without restrictions since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
The government reopened nightclubs and dropped almost all coronavirus measures in England in a bet that mass vaccinations will prevent another deadly wave of COVID-19.
"I have not been allowed to dance for like what seems like forever," said Georgia Pike, 31, at the Oval Space in Hackney, east London. "I want to dance, I want to hear live music, I want the vibe of being at a gig, of being around other people."
Beside the zest for fun, though, there was also clear concern about a wave of new cases - more than 50,000 per day across the United Kingdom.
"I am so excited - but it's mixed with the sense of impending doom," said Gary Cartmill, 26, outside the "00:01" event which was organised to celebrate the return of live music.
Hours later, Mr Johnson announced that people who were not fully vaccinated, including those who had not had both doses of two-shot immunisations, would be barred from nightclubs.
Two people hug in the middle of the dancefloor at Egg London nightclub in the early hours of 19 July, 2021 in London, England. Source: Getty Images Europe
The decision follows large outbreaks linked to nightclubs in other countries such as the Netherlands and Israel, where authorities were forced to close them again.
"I can serve notice now that by the end of September when all over 18s will have had their chance to be double jabbed, we're planning to make full vaccination the condition of entry to nightclubs and other venues where large crowds gather,"Mr Johnson told a press conference.
"Proof of a negative test will no longer be enough."
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of the trade association UKHospitality, called the announcement "a hammer blow" for a struggling industry. She said the decision risked creating flashpoints between staff and customers.
"As recently as last week the government asked us to work with them on a voluntary scheme, so this new policy is devastating," she said.
Britain's chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, said nightclubs and other closed venues could be "potential super spreading events" because of crowds in close contact.
"I would expect that with opening of nightclubs, we'll continue to see an increase in cases, and we will see outbreaks related to specific nightclubs as well," he said.
Mr Johnson said that the government was not planning similar requirements for pubs. "I certainly don't want to see passports for pubs," he said.
'We've got to do this cautiously'
The prime minister's bet that he can get one of Europe's largest economies firing again because so many people are now vaccinated marks a new chapter in the global response to COVID-19.
If the vaccines prove effective in reducing severe illness and deaths even while infections reach record levels, Mr Johnson's decision could offer a path out of the worst public health crisis in decades. If not, more lockdowns could loom.
But his big day was also marred by "pingdemic chaos" as a National Health Service app ordered hundreds of thousands of people to self-isolate - prompting warnings supermarket shelves could soon be emptied.
"If we don’t do it now we’ve got to ask ourselves, when will we ever do it?" Mr Johnson said just hours after he was forced to abandon a plan to dodge the 10-day quarantine requirement for himself and finance minister Rishi Sunak.
"This is the right moment but we’ve got to do it cautiously. We’ve got to remember that this virus is sadly still out there."
Britain has the seventh highest death toll in the world, 128,708, and is forecast to soon have more new infections each day than it did at the height of a second wave of the virus earlier this year. On Sunday there were 48,161 new cases.
But, outstripping European peers, 87 per cent of Britain's adult population has had one vaccination dose, and more than 68 per cent have had the two doses which provide fuller protection. Daily deaths, currently at around 40 per day, are just a fraction of a peak of above 1,800 seen in January.
What is 'Freedom Day'?
From midnight, laws in England requiring masks to be worn in shops and other indoor settings lapsed, along with capacity limits in bars and restaurants, and rules limiting the number of people who can socialise together.
Mr Johnson sets COVID-19 restrictions for England, with devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland making their own policy.
As businesses across England faced a shortage of workers due to the NHS app pinging people and telling them to isolate, supermarkets warned they faced strain.
"It’s a major issue across every industry at the moment," Marks & Spencer CEO Steve Rowe said. "Our COVID cases are roughly doubling every week and the pinging level is about three to one of COVID cases, so we’re seeing that growing exponentially."
"If there’s shortages we’ll have to manage it by changing hours of stores, reducing hours. Where the industry will see the pain is in the supply chain, because logistics runs tight anyway to be efficient."
British society appears split on the restrictions: some want tough rules to continue as they fear the virus will keep killing people and overwhelm hospitals, but others have chafed at the most onerous restrictions in peacetime history.
People dancing at Egg London nightclub in the early hours of 19 July, 2021 in London, England. Source: Getty Images Europe
Mr Johnson faced an outcry on Sunday when he and Mr Sunak tried to dodge quarantine with a special scheme for senior ministers and civil servants. He will now isolate at his country residence at Chequers after health minister Sajid Javid tested positive.
