It's not Freedom Day say disabled fearing for their lives

Prime minister Boris Johnson’s decision to lift Covid restrictions from 19 July, has been described as a "reckless" gamble with people’s lives that will not bring freedom but imprisonment for too many people with disabilities.

People with certain medical conditions cannot have a Covid vaccine and vaccines may not be effective for people with suppressed immune systems.

As a result, an end to swathe of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions during a period of rising infection rates is leaving disabled people fearful they will have to retreat back to their homes and isolate themselves for their own protection from 19 July.

Boris Johnson has said he is lifting all social distancing and the face mask law along with other Covid restrictions in England on 19 July - so-called 'Freedom Day'. The rule to work from home has been scrapped, along with the ‘rule of six’ inside private homes and inside restaurants and bars.

Cinemas and theatres can return to full capacity along with pubs which will mean people will gather at the bar to get the attention of staff to order a drink. Night clubs will reopen and large events will not legally require certification.

200 deaths a day expected this summer

Health and social care secretary Sajid Javid told MPs Covid cases could reach 100,000 a day this summer. Mr Javid said as a result of vaccinations, "we can withstand a summer wave". "While the wall [vaccine wall] would be higher still if we waited till winter, we know the wave would be much more dangerous. While we know there are risks with any decision, this is the most responsible decison that we can take."

The government's scientific advisors have said the summer could bring 200 deaths a day.

Campaigners say lifting restrictions threatens the lives of millions of clinically vulnerable people. Those most at risk fear they will end up living more restricted lives, without the support of government schemes to help them from 19 July.

Kamran Mallick, chief executive of Disability Rights UK, said: “Disabled people, and people with compromised immune systems, those formerly known as clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) people, will be faced with the choice of shielding under their own determination with no support, or facing increased risk of infection by going out in wider society.

“The government has once again dismissed the lives and voices of disabled people with plans for the reckless removing of safety measures.”

Scientists have shown the wearing of face masks can prevent the virus being passed from one person to another.

Mr Mallick added: “We have learnt that for the vast majority of people, it is no hardship to distance in public spaces, and to wear a mask, a practice which in many Asian countries is standard during non-pandemic times.”

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas (@Carolinelucas) tweeted: “PM’s reckless bonfire of restrictions & dangerous “freedom day” rhetoric means that other people’s freedom to avoid infection is undermined. Wearing a mask is about looking after one another because we’re all #InThisTogether.”

‘Acceptable collateral damage’

Svetlana Kotova, director of campaigns and justice at Inclusion London, which supports 70 deaf and disabled organisations in London, said the lives of disabled people were being treated as “acceptable collateral damage in exchange for the roadmap to freedom”.

“Although the vaccination programme has been successful, there are still many people, including younger disabled people, who have not been fully vaccinated.

“Lifting all restrictions, when COVID cases are rising so fast, will mean those younger disabled people will be forced to go back into work, others will be exposed to higher risks of contracting COVID-19 and many people will be exposed to the risk of long COVID.

“Some people medically cannot get vaccinated, others that are immunocompromised may not benefit as much as others from the available vaccination options.

“Lifting all restrictions without acknowledging extra difficulties some disabled people may face and providing support is wrong. It risks excluding and isolating people further.”

’Freedom Day gives me the shivers’

Ben Watt (@ben_watt) tweeted: "I’m an auto-immune musician who stopped playing live in March 2020 because of a lethal airborne virus. Apart from exercise, I now live at home, jabbed but still at risk. July 19 is not mask-free Freedom Day for me nor anyone. It is reckless…”

Dr Jazmin Scarlett (@scarlett_jazmin) tweeted: “I have a disability that impacts my immune system. I almost died from shingles when I was a kid. So yeah, I’m 100% scared and 19th July deffo isn’t “freedom day”. Even though I’ll be fully vaccinated soon, still will be masked and avoiding society I guess.”

One disabled person tweeted (@RiotMeme_GE2017): “As a disabled person, the thought of ‘Freedom Day’ gives me the shivers.

"It is as though nondisabled people are throwing a party at the wake of hundreds of thousands of disabled people who have died during the pandemic. The blatant disregard for disabled lives is difficult”.