When Boris Johnson laid out his cautious but irreversible roadmap to ease lockdown restrictions back in February, one date was etched on to our collective consciousness. June 21 was supposed to herald a return to something like normality, with all legal limits on social contact removed.

Of course, “freedom day” as it became known, was postponed until 19 July and renamed rather grandly as “terminus day”. But, finally, after all the disruption, delays and setbacks of the past 16 months, most of us are approaching something at least resembling our pre-pandemic lives.

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