Borders decision needed to happen

That is only right.

As the vaccination programme rolls out to cover more of the population, as treatments improve, as testing and tracing and detection of new variants becomes more robust, it is time to carefully lift the drawbridge.

There is a tipping point where border controls become more damaging than the threat being posed by the virus.

Economically and socially it is vital that residents can reconnect with the outside world more freely when it is safe to do so – we are reaching that stage.

The Civil Contingencies Authority has made no apologies for its cautious approach to managing this latest outbreak and lifting the lockdown restrictions.

Those in the community who will be fearful of the phases to come should be reassured that no one is being reckless in these circumstances.

There has to, though, be some level of acceptance that there will be cases of Covid-19 as the virus has become endemic.

Everything on island has been set up to cope with this. We are not sprinting out of lockdown and the July date gives ample time to monitor what happens elsewhere as much as it does here.

The UK is looking to restart international travel on 17 May.

Plans are also moving forward for travel passports. Pre-travel testing is being looked at.

Any comparisons with what happened in other jurisdictions last summer do not do justice to the advances that have been made in the meantime – we are in a very different place to when everyone was struggling with how to react to a virus that so little was known about.

There had been a reluctance to put dates to border reopening. That the CCA has now done so is welcome. The public are intelligent enough to realise things could change depending on the progress with vaccinations and how the virus mutates.