Shropshire Star comment: UK's turn to relax measures will come

Leaders of Western nations are starting to relax lockdown rules as they seek to return to normal life.

They are the first in Europe, though already we have seen a successful relaxation of rules in China and other parts of Asia. These are the first, faltering steps as nations look to restart faltering economies around the globe.

And while the UK is some weeks behind Austria, Czech Republic, Norway and Denmark, we know our turn will soon come. As we head towards our peak, we can observe what happens around the world and adapt our own model to reflect best practice.

Our expectations ought to be realistic, however. Until a vaccine is created there will not be a genuine exit plan that returns us to normal life.

The best we can hope for is a phased exit, where certain sectors of the economy are reopened and where we can begin to lift restrictions that do not lead to a second wave of infection.

The Government must tread carefully here and avoid undoing the work done by the sacrifice of many.

If we were to press restart and open the economy, we would also be allowing Covid-19 to run riot and the self-isolation, stay-at-home work of so many would be undone. Similarly, we must think about the incredible workers at our beloved NHS who have lost lives or put themselves in harm’s way to bring us to this point.

So it is too much to hope we might see football matches, concerts or participate in mass gatherings. But it is not too much to imagine we might be able to open some factories or construction sites, or we might at least be able to contemplate whether youngsters can return to school.

The Government has been strong in focusing on lockdown and people have dutifully done so. It must also be honest about its exit plan so businesses, schools and the public can prepare. If the final exit is vaccination, which is 12 months away, what are we to do during the coming year?

Social distancing might be turned off and on, testing and tracing might be ramped up; there are many questions to answer. It is some weeks before Britain arrives at that point: there will be no excuses if the Government is not ready