Over 1,100 more coronavirus cases and at least 12 fatalities were reported across the UK on Saturday. A total of 1,108 more people tested positive for COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, raising the overall count to 332,752, while the death toll moved up to 41,498. Meanwhile, as coronavirus restrictions remain in place, this year’s Notting Hill Carnival, the largest festival of its kind in Europe, is taking place online this weekend.
The carnival, held every year in Notting Hill, west London, over the August Bank Holiday weekend, celebrates Caribbean culture and attracts around one million people.
“We did the responsible thing and we took the carnival off the streets this year for the reasons of safety and for community – at the end of the day this pandemic has disproportionately affected black people,” Sky News quoted the carnival's executive director Matthew Phillips as saying.
“Everybody's been through a tough time these past few months with lockdown, people that have lost loved ones, we're doing this in the hope that we can bring people together and remind them that things will get better.”
“The carnival in itself is a statement that Black lives matter, but also it's a statement of unity, bringing people together from all walks of life, all colors, whatever class or background you're from,” he added.