Protesters in major cities target coronavirus measures as global death toll approaches 1 million
- Protests held in London, Tel Aviv, Melbourne and Bucharest on Saturday
- UK officials consider tougher national restrictions as ‘second wave’ hits
Demonstrators took the streets of London, Tel Aviv and other cities on Saturday to protest coronavirus restrictions, decrying how the measures have affected daily life even with infection rates rising in many places and the global death toll approaching 1 million.
In the UK, the latest official estimates released Friday showed that new infections and coronavirus hospital admissions have been doubling every seven to eight days. Britain has Europe’s highest death toll since the start of the pandemic, with 41,821 confirmed virus-related deaths.
The government recently banned social gatherings of more than six people in the hopes that it would help reverse a steep rise in Covid-19 cases and suggested that tougher restrictions could be coming.
Saturday’s protest in Trafalgar Square, which was themed “Resist and Act for Freedom”, ended in clashes between demonstrators and London police, as officers tried to disperse hundreds of people holding banners and placards scrawled with anti-restriction messages such as “This is now Tyranny”.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has warned that the city may add curfews, force pubs to close earlier and ban household visits to try to limit the city’s sharp rise in new cases.