Coronavirus newsletter: We need to be strong

Good evening

Now that we are starting to see the first steps out of lockdown, a whole new series of problems will start to emerge.

Not least among them is how we can persuade people who have mostly stayed indoors for months to start going out into the world again.

Let’s face it, for many people, this will be a frightening prospect. Nearly 35,000 people have died across the country from a virus which is as invisible as it is deadly. That is why we have all been staying in for so long, after all.

So how do we give people confidence to go back onto the high street, into smaller shops and eventually into pubs and restaurants?

It’s going to be a tough nut to crack. But crack it we must, as it is critical that our small businesses, crippled by the effects of Covid-19, start to get up and running and can rely on our support. We will need to be confident that social distancing is in place and being observed and that action will be taken against those who do not play by the rules of our new world.

It may be a long time before we can truly relax away from our homes, but we all have to take that first step.