Freedom day: Five things that have already gone wrong since Covid restrictions were eased

WHO could have seen this coming?

It's the day we've all been looking forward to, since, well seemingly forever - Freedom Day. The day we could all stop wearing masks - unless, of course, we were going to the shops or catching a bus or basically going anywhere we might see other people. And we could go to nightclubs and order pints at the bar. Nothing was going to stop Boris Johnson from setting Brits free - not even a warning from the World Health Organisation who just last week urged him to pump the breaks on his plans, fearing Freedom Day could kick-start the pandemic all over again. Covid cases, if you hadn't noticed, are soaring again. To no one's surprise, day one hasn't gone that smoothly.

1. Lateral flow tests ran out

[caption id="attachment_281249" align="alignnone" width="2048"] Via Unplash[/caption] Ruh roh! A pretty important condition to people's freedom as of late has been repeatedly lateral flow testing to make sure they don't have the virus, especially amongst the pingdemic. But anyone attempting to order a test from the government website today may have run into a bit of a problem, as they seemed to have run out. The website started telling users: "Sorry, no more tests can be ordered today. "No more lateral flow tests can be ordered online or through the call centre today. Please try again when more tests will be available." https://twitter.com/breeallegretti/status/1417096640624799751?s=20 To make matters worse, it was directing people to NHS England if they still needed to order lateral flow tests, but this link just led straight back to the Gov.uk website. Oops! The Department of Health later stated that it was just a "temporary technical glitch" and there are in fact lateral flow tests available. “We can confirm that lateral flow devices (LFDs) are still available to order via gov.uk website. There was a temporary technical glitch with the website earlier today and this has now been rectified," a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told JOE.

2. Someone forgot to tell the anti-lockdown protestors

You heard "someone forgot to tell Covid it's Christmas" but I raise you: anti-lockdown protestors staging a demonstration on the day that all Covid restrictions are eased. The crowd was protesting, outside Parliament, against Boris Johnson's "crimes against humanity", Covid policing fines, and vaccines. One protester was holding a sign saying "it’s not a pandemic, it’s an IQ test." Honestly, I feel a bit guilty that no one let them know. This could have been a really big day for them! What a shame.

3. The NHS website went down

[caption id="attachment_281252" align="alignnone" width="1170"] That's not good[/caption] Three is a magic number and for the third mishap of freedom day... our National Health Service website was unavailable for people attempting to book vaccines. While it was working perfectly fine for some, others have had issues yesterday and today with making and managing bookings. This is particularly aggravating considering that the PM brought the interval period between jabs down from twelve to eight weeks, and has been pushing for people to get their second dose as soon as they can, despite criticism.

4. The clubs reopening might force pubs to close

When one door opens... a chain of pubs closes. But seriously, businesses including Iceland and Green King (the pub chain) have reported that the staff shortages due to self-isolation increases might force them to shut their doors. MailOnline reported that "Iceland and Greene King have warned of serious problems, with some companies having to reduce hours or shut sites completely because up to a quarter of staff are off." Much like whack-a-mole, the pingdemic is surely set to only get worse with clubs reopening, which could lead to even more staff shortages in businesses, such as pubs, forcing them to shut or reduce services. It's like a room of mystery doors except behind each door there's Covid.

5. And WHO could have seen this coming? Wait...

Oh, you mean WHO could have seen this coming. As in, the World Health Organisation could have seen this coming a mile off? And they did? They warned us last week.