#Pubs reopen in England after four-month shutdown

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A masked bartender at a pub in Manchester.
Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP

It was bottoms up live on the BBC Saturday morning when an eager patron pounded down a Jägerbomb at a London bar to celebrate pubs and restaurants re-opening all across England for the first time in four months.

It’s officially called “Super Saturday” and thirsty Brits lined up even before pubs threw open their doors at 6 a.m. to ensure they could sink a pint — or three — for breakfast.

Fire protection installers Ben Clark, 33, Curtis Birch, 22, and Connor Cowen, 22, didn’t waste any time getting to the pub first thing Saturday morning after they finished their night shift in Birmingham.

Clark told The Sun that he’d been craving a pint since the start of lockdown. “We walked past and saw the lights on and got ourselves booked in,” he said.

Pub staff and customers will have to adjust to new COVID-19 rules, however. Some of the new regulations include keeping the sound low on football games to prevent people from spreading droplets when they shout. Customers will have to leave their contact details with pubs or restaurants for 21 days so they can be tracked if there is an outbreak and are being asked to use contactless payments rather than cash. Groups of up to six can come to a restaurant or pub but must be from the same general household and cannot mix with other groups.

Staff wore masks and some protective gear in photos from British pubs Saturday but many of the patrons were not even though Prime Minister Boris Johnson said they should.