'Freedom Day' for England is next Monday, but far from relief about the easing of coronavirus restrictions, it seems to have sparked another round of worries about what might be coming next.
What we do know is that what people and businesses can do changes substantially on 19 July.
Social distancing limits are being scrapped with the 1m distance rule removed in all but places such as hospitals.
Facemasks are also no longer mandatory, though organisations such as Transport For London are still insisting they are worn on buses and tubes.
In hospitality, nightclubs can finally reopen after being shut for more than fifteen months while table service in pubs is being scrapped.
Events such as concerts, theatres, sports events can resume with no limit on guests at weddings, funerals and religious services.
In travel, the need to quarantine on return from an amber list country is being lifted for fully vaccinated Britons while the advice not to travel to these places is also being lifted.
Those are the official changes, and for some will come as a relief.
According to research group CGA, around 12,000 of Britain’s licensed premises will finally be able to reopen on Monday.
Its monitor estimates that 89% of all known UK hospitality venues were open by the end of June 2021, but 11,928 sites remain closed and the hope is that many of these open their doors again on 19 July.
But concerns over whether lifting all restrictions at the same time is wise given the surge in infections in the UK, especially among the unvaccinated are not going away
Even today, Chris Whitty warned the number of people in hospital with coronavirus could reach “quite scary” levels within weeks.
The chief medical officer said England’s coronavirus crisis could return again surprisingly quickly and the country is “not yet out of the woods”.
Changes to some of the rules also suggest the path to recovery from Covid-19 is far from clear.
Just today, for example, there were reports that for nightclubs to reopen might require some form of Covid passport, which might even extend to pubs, bars and restaurants with the use of the NHS app as proof of a double vaccination.
Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of the industry body UKHospitality, said the guidance for pubs and restaurants was "disappointing".
Other signs of clawing back freedoms were also evident. Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrisons and Waitrose, Aldi and Lidl will ask shoppers to keep wearing face masks when they enter their shops.
Travel, too, was in the spotlight with reports that France is to be added to the UK’s red list due to an upsurge in cases of the beta invariant that originated in South Africa.
That follows a downgrade of sunspots Majorca and Ibiza to the amber list from green earlier in the week.
If the France report is correct, anyone going they will have to quarantine on return in a managed hotel for ten days, at a cost of £1,750, and take PCR Covid-19 tests on days two and eight following arrival back in the UK.
Investors too have been erring on the cautious side.
Airlines and hospitality stocks have been under pressure especially following the Balearic u-turn, though there was a rally today as Monday finally sees an easing of amber list resticitions and with good weather approaching in the UK for the weekend.
Whitbread PLC (LON:WTB) has been especially affected due to worries about the impact of a Covid-19 resurgence on its premier Inn chain and Beefeater eateries.
“The share price has fallen along with other companies exposed to a prolongation of Covid-19-related disruption. It does look like it may have a tougher summer than we expected,” said broker Peel Hunt today.
For Whitbread, the comfort is that its competitors are likely to do worse, said Peel Hunt, and it can use its very solid balance sheet to 'carry on investing and picking up attractive assets'.
Shares in Whitbread rose 2.7% to 2,951p.