British health minister says most people have ‘acted responsibly’ as pubs reopen

British health minister Matt Hancock said residents appear to have behaved responsibly during the first weekend after England allowed pubs to reopen.

“From what I’ve seen, although there’s some pictures to the contrary, very, very largely people have acted responsibly,” Hancock told Sky News, Reuters reported. “Overall, I’m pleased with what happened yesterday. It was really good to see people out and about, and largely socially distancing.”

NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens reported similar observations, telling the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, “Pleasingly, we did not see last night the kind of scenes people feared [there] might be … The foolish few, but the sensible majority, I think is the story across the country, and long may that continue.”

The rest of the U.K. has imposed separate timetables for the end of their respective lockdowns, and neither Scotland nor Wales have reopened pubs yet, according to the news service. The government is considering localized lockdowns if it deems them necessary such as in the city of Leicester, which saw 650 cases of the coronavirus in the first two weeks of June.

“There will be support going into Leicester and in fact the health secretary was in touch with many of us over the weekend explaining some of the measures, the support on testing, resources that will go into the local authority as well,’’ British Home Secretary Priti Patel said in late June. “With local flare-ups it is right we have a localized solution.’’

Hancock, meanwhile, has expressed concerns about the potential for factory conditions in the city to spread the virus.

“There are some quite significant concerns about some of the employment practices in some of the clothing factories in Leicester,” he said, saying the government will force businesses to shut down if necessary. “We’re not just asking nicely, we’re very clear to businesses that these are their responsibilities.”