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Britain to end mask and distancing requirements on July 19 despite increase in COVID-19 cases

05 July 2021
Dan Ackermann

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday said that England will lift mask requirements and social distancing rules later this month amid rising coronavirus cases, AP reports.

Driving the news: Individuals in England will no longer be required by law to wear face masks in indoor public spaces. Businesses can still require masks and remove distancing restrictions, but Johnson said fighting the pandemic would now be a matter of "personal responsibility," and Britain would have to “learn to live with this virus," per the AP.

  • The country is scheduled to move to its final stage of lifting lockdown restrictions on July 19, but a final decision will come on July 12.
  • Johnson expects to see all night clubs, museums, theaters and sports venues allowed to operate without capacity limits or distancing measures come July 19, according to The Washington Post.

The big picture: Coronavirus infections are rising to 25,000 a day, driven largely by the Delta variant, according to the Post.

  • Johnson said the decision to move towards reopening is due to the effectiveness of the vaccines, per the Post. About 85% of the adult population in Britain has received a first vaccine dose.
  • He acknowledged there would likely be an increase in deaths and cases after the restrictions are lifted.
  • "This pandemic is far from over,” Johnson said, adding “we must reconcile ourselves, sadly, to more deaths from COVID.”

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.