Guernsey Press

Stay alert, but it is time to be free again

IT MAKES you want to punch the air with relief.

Published

Today marks the ending of Bailiwick-wide lockdown restrictions, a return to our free lives without the need to think twice about every trip out you make, who you speak to and how you interact.

Bursting the bubble releases anxiety and pressure. It is 88 days since lockdown began and 51 since the last known active case of Covid-19.

It means an end to queueing outside shops, a return to queueing at bars instead.

Sport can return to full action for all ages, clubs and societies can get going again.

Human interaction can replace the virtual worlds in which we have immersed ourselves.

While it is right that we celebrate, we must do so with an understanding that elimination does not mean eradication, that Covid-19 can spread swiftly if and when it returns unless we remember the lessons taught so far.

You only have to look at outbreaks in Germany and China to see how delicate the situation is before a vaccine is found.

Getting to this point has seen untold pain along the way for some, lives have been lost early, general health has been impacted, children’s education has suffered. That cannot be forgotten.

Locally there is clearly a need to rebuild.

Yesterday the States confirmed that 1,631 people were unemployed by the end of May, up more than 1,000 on March. Many others will have taken reductions in pay or hours, while other taxpayers would have left the island.

The headline unemployment figure does not tell the full story yet, although it is a pretty stark indicator.

Charities, which have done so much to help the community through this crisis and are relied on more and more to provide services, have lost out on major fundraising events and activities that would sustain them too.

There are different schemes to try to bridge the gap in the short term, but we need to rebuild the foundations for a sustainable future.

We need to stay alert to the danger that remains, but just as others that reached this stage have, it is time to do a little jig.