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University of Nebraska Medical Center

The week that Covid-hit Britain returned to the pub

BBC It became known as “Super Saturday”.

Britain’s pubs had been shuttered for more than four months during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, since Boris Johnson, then UK prime minister, held a TV address which announced strict new lockdown rules that included shutting down a number on non-essential venues – the country’s pubs included.

On 24 June, 2020, the UK’s governments announced that pubs, restaurants and hairdressers would be allowed to re-open from 4 July, but that people would still have to follow social distancing rules, as well as other safety measures such as more frequent hand cleaning.

The UK’s pubs had largely remained open during two World Wars (even if opening hours had been curtailed during World War One during the working day and only repealed in the late 1980s.) The pub tradition had survived the Blitz and rationing, but now Britons had a new challenge: confronting the first few months of this crisis without the sanctuary of a pint at the bar.

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