Biden-Covid yet to vanquished, Learn to live with the virus-Johnson

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged the population to "learn to live with" the virus. Johnson had initially aimed for a full reopening on June 21 but was forced to push back the date because of a surge in the highly contagious Delta variant. That variant now accounts for nearly all new Covid cases in Britain. The prime minister's office says the latest figures indicate that the number of cases will continue to rise as restrictions are lifted, but also that "the link to hospitalisations and deaths has been weakened" thanks to vaccinations.Night clubs have not been allowed to open, large-scale events do not run at full capacity and service is still restricted in pubs.

After Russia, Britain has the highest coronavirus death toll of any European country, at more than 128,000. It is gradually ending a third lockdown period, although some restrictions remain. In December last year, Britain was one of the first countries to roll out an innoculation programme and around 64 percent of the adult population has now received two doses of a covid vaccine.

Meanwhile , US President Joe Biden celebrated US Independence Day on Sunday with an upbeat assessment of a country he said is roaring back to post-pandemic life, even if Covid-19 has yet to be fully "vanquished." "Two hundred and forty five years ago, we declared our independence from a distant king. Today, we are closer than ever to declaring our independence from a deadly virus," he told the crowd of invited military members and essential workers. Biden paid tribute to those who have lost their lives, with the staggering number of deaths in the United States now at more than 600,000.