Pubs and restaurants reopened on Monday and holiday flights resumed to 12 “green lit” countries but people in Britain, Indians especially, risked only cautious “baby steps” to freedom.

Perhaps the pandemic has made them a little institutionalised.

Tory peer Rami Ranger, who owns a lucrative freight business selling everything from superior British biscuits to energy drinks to over 100 countries, did not rush out to lunch.

“I worked this morning — I have just come off a Zoom call,” he told The Telegraph. “You can’t let your guard down.”

How were bookings at two of the top Indian restaurants in London, the Bombay Brasserie and Quilon, that are much favoured by the likes of Tom Cruise and the Hollywood crowd?

“We will open on Tuesday but not for lunch, dinner only,” announced executive chef Aylur Sriram.

“Weekends will be busy — we will see how it goes.”

As of Monday, despite the worries about the Indian variant of Covid-19, a number of rules have been relaxed after a year: pubs, cafes and restaurants can serve customers indoors; and leisure venues such as galleries, museums, theatres, cinemas, sports stadiums and children’s play areas can also reopen.

But theatre impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber, whose shows include Phantom of the Opera, said that he had re-opened “precisely none” of his seven venues on Monday.

Under updated government guidance on close contact, people can choose whether to hug friends and family, but are advised to consider the vulnerabilities of their loved ones.

Indians, in particular, who have been hard hit by Covid, appear to be paying heed to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said: “Together we have reached another milestone in our roadmap out of lockdown, but we must take this next step with a heavy dose of caution.”