Stay sharp, people

We shouldn’t have to say this.

And for most readers, maybe we don’t have to. But we’re going to say it anyway.

If all things remain equal, Monday will mark the biggest single change in the province since the COVID-19 lockdown began.

Barring a sudden increase in cases or other concerns, the provincial government will bring in what it has called Alert Level 3, a level with substantially more freedoms for all of us.

The biggest changes involve what’s going to be open, like private health clinics. They’ll be able to welcome patients again if they follow provincial guidelines.

The other big change is in the area the province calls “Businesses and Services.”

Retail stores, including those in shopping malls, will be allowed to open, with restrictions.

Personal service establishments, “including spas, esthetic services, hair salons, body piercing, tattooing and tanning salons,” can also open, as long as they follow provincial guidelines.

You can get pets groomed again.

And there will be an expansion of daycare operations.

Even restaurants can operate, albeit at reduced occupancy (a tough blow for businesses that traditionally operate with a razor-thin profit margin); buffets are still banned.

Other businesses are not as fortunate: bars, lounges and cinemas will remain closed, as will gyms, fitness studios and yoga studios.

Still, all in all, Level 3 is going to feel like three steps closer to normalcy.

What’s needed at the same time right now is something that’s often uncommon: common sense.

As we head towards even more relaxation of health rules in the future, keep in mind that this is all dependent on staying the course as much as possible. We’ve just spent three months learning to physically distance, to stay home as much as possible, to wash our hands and to wear masks when we know we’ll be close to other people. Those lessons can’t just go out the window now. We’re not saying stay away from the newly opened businesses — far from it. Businesses, especially small and medium sized ones, need your support now more than they ever have before. The past few months have been brutal for them, with slim to no revenues and with costs continuing to pile up. Reopening and paying staff is going to feel like a desperate gamble, and if we can help them to survive, we should do it.

But be strategic about your shopping and play by the rules. Always.

We are saying be aware. Complacency — or worse, outright disregard for the rules — will inevitably bring us right back to the kind of lockdown we’re only now starting to escape.

It really only takes one careless move — as happened in New Brunswick — to set us far back.

You don’t want to be the one responsible for that.