COVID-19: First Major Red Carpet Premiere Holds in London

Following the lifting of the COVID-19 restrictions in England, the first major red carpet event was held in London. The premiere of the comedy ‘Off the Rails’ took place on Thursday with  actors, a flash mob and Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) workers on standby also in attendance.

The event held despite a wave of new cases in Britain  as the Prime Minister Boris Johnson ended most regulations in England on Monday including the need to socially distance.

According to Reuters, the film screening where a flash mob performed took place in central London’s Leicester Square with150 NHS staff in attendance, including Fidelia Essell-Uwagbae, head of nursing at a vaccination centre.

“Absolutely excited to see the nation coming back to as close to normal as it can but we still need to take those precautions,” she said

Daily positive cases have been broadly rising in Britain for a month but a rapid vaccination programme appears to have weakened the link between infections and deaths, with daily fatalities remaining at relatively low levels.

“It’s a bit nerve racking … it’s really nice though. It’s so nice to see everybody and go to the cinema,” said actor Sally Phillips, who stars in the film about a group of women carrying out their friend’s dying wish for them to complete a rail trip around Europe.

Phillips, known for her role in the Bridget Jones movies, is part of an ensemble cast including late actress Kelly Preston, who died last year after battling breast cancer, Oscar winner Judi Dench and singer Andrea Corr. Cast members wore necklaces spelling out Kelly in honour of Preston

While there was no need for masks on the red carpet, once inside the cinema organisers made them mandatory.