Rays of hope as we aim to suppress virus

Fortunately there are rays shining all around us.

Yesterday came reports that the Oxford/AstraZenica vaccine significantly reduces the spread of Covid-19 after just one jab.

Just as importantly it eliminates severe illness from those that contract the virus.

Covid-19 will be something we all have to live with, the battle is about getting it to the point where it is not an unacceptable threat to life and filling up hospital wards, that it is more like the common cold.

The mutations in the virus show that this is not a simple journey, as it adapts to become more virulent or more easily transmissible, but progress is being made and the vaccination programme is at the heart of being able to lift lockdown restrictions around the globe.

Guernsey can take heart as well from news that the Isle of Man has exited its own short, sharp lockdown in less than a month.

It gives an indication of the path that Guernsey can follow with similar strategies in place if people are calm and follow the advice in place.

The exit from lockdown strategy is being revised in what should from now be a rolling update as the world continues to learn lessons and the vaccination programme, how the virus behaves, progress in treatments and testing changes the picture.

There will not be one single action alone that will change how we live with Covid-19, but a combination.

The latest lockdown has shown we cannot be complacent, and the need to review and revise is as strong now as it was when Covid-19 first started to show its teeth.

A blanket approach to restrictions is not sustainable in the medium term and while elimination may be appealing to some, even comforting, it is unrealistic.

For now the target is suppression and cracking down when there is an unknown community source. There is a welcome realism to that approach.