U.K.’s plans to reopen

As of right now, the U.S has a total COVID case count of 29,305,679. We are number one in the world for total cases. Even though vaccines are getting approved by the FDA, and President Joe Biden signed an executive order for the U.S to work with the Canadian government to develop health and safety measures to reopen the border, there’s still no real plan to fully open the U.S. Some states are still being affected heavily by the Coronavirus, and most have yet to resume what is considered to be our normal lives. There has yet to be an official date or plan for the U.S to fully reopen, however the English Prime Minister has set forth a plan, and believes that the UK can reopen by June 21st.

Borris Johnson, the English Prime Minister believes that the UK can almost fully reopen by June 21st. He set forth a four step plan that begins on March 8th with opening schools and allowing out-door after school sports, as well as two people can sit outdoors together, and care home residents can have one regular visitor. Step two takes place April 12th, which mainly opens non essential businesses, and indoor leisure such as gyms and pools. Step three is then on May 17, where most social contact rules outdoors are lifted, six people or two households can meet indoors, and indoor hospitality and hotels open. Finally, step four on June 21st removes all legal limits on social contact and closed sectors of their economy are reopened.

Obviously, the quick pace of reopening everything will need to be met with caution. None of the dates are exactly set and data will continue to be analyzed to determine whether or not it’s actually safe to reopen as they plan. I would say the U.S should try something similar however I don’t firmly believe it would work. The american people are too caught up in the idea of freedom and not being “controlled” by the government to actually listen. Hence why we have the leading number of cases. People continue to refuse to wear masks, be cautious in social settings, or self quarantine because they view it as restricting their freedom. America isn’t an anarchist society. One isn’t going to have complete and total freedom from the government, and at the end of the day that’s a good thing. It’s for our safety, and it gives us security. Some restrictions imposed now, means that restrictions later aren’t as harsh. 

The restrictions imposed at the start of the whole pandemic were not listened to as much as they should have been. It’s quite possible that harsher restrictions are going to be necessary. If the vaccines are successful, then I doubt we have anything to worry about. However, I feel it sets a precedent for future belief that everything will just work out. That one doesn’t need to help, and watch out for the safety of themselves and others because there will be something that magically fixes it and takes away the harm. What if there is no vaccine next time?