Getting ready for the new normal

No one knew what to expect when restrictions were imposed on Wednesday 25 March. The shutters came down and the islands went eerily quiet.

In many ways it was a straightforward, if momentous, decision. The threat level was high and islanders just had to deal with the consequences.

Coming out of lockdown is far from straightforward. The relaxation of the rules has to be gradual or risk losing the hard-won gains that saw the number of active cases reduced to single figures yesterday.

That measured release also gives time for businesses and individuals to get ready for the ‘new normal’. An overnight decision to send thousands of islanders back to work would bring most bosses out in a cold sweat wondering how they can keep both staff and customers safe.

The coming weeks then are time to formulate a plan with social distancing and good hygiene at its heart.

The new battlegrounds in the fight against the virus are receptions, toilets, communal kitchens and break-out areas.

Tightly-packed office seating and hot-desking will be a thing of the past. And unless a vaccine comes along quickly the Christmas party will be more like a masked ball.

For some businesses it will be even more complex. The airline sector is awash with warnings of huge delays at airports as passengers are first health tested and then sat in socially distanced seats.

To look on the bright side at least the factory farm hell of security should be less crowded.

But for an industry built on the efficiencies of scale it promises to require a wholesale change in business practices that only the strongest will survive.

The wait to return to trading will be longest for pubs and clubs, which is just as well as the challenge to their business model is enormous.

But from finance to farming and funeral services it is hard to think that any industry will escape unscathed.

Over the next 50 days islanders will get a better understanding of a new normal that they may have to live with for some time.