Let us take slow steps... for all our tomorrows, keep giving your today

THE phrase the “new normal” has been doing the rounds, in reference to the shared confinement that has beset the nation.

But a newer normal may emerge yet. Although the Prime Minister is not expected to share his exit road map until Sunday, there’s already a looming, longawaited sense that our stringent lockdown measures are starting to ease.

Green shoots can be seen. Mr Johnson is expected to ease lockdown restrictions at workplaces by way of staggered shifts, enhanced hygiene and protective screens. New bus and train timetables will help the public transport system spread passengers thinly. Hairdressers and restaurants with protective furniture will surely follow.

The technology to combat Covid-19 is also developing fast, with the test launch today of the NHS app on the Isle of Wight a case in point. So-called hi-tech “health passports” are mooted. Vaccines are in the trial stages and a new coronavirus antibody test has been developed in Scotland.

The numbers of daily deaths have fallen to their lowest level since March – a scenario in large part attributable to lockdown.The Nightingale Hospital in London has been placed on standby.The UK is shortly to co-host an international conference on Covid-19 with Mr Johnson at the helm.

This appalling virus is now being attacked from all sides – technological, medical, behavioural – and here, the British public needs credit for its continued forbearance.

But no one should expect a VE Day-like moment of collective release. Our freedoms will be regained incrementally, taking slow steps forward with a nervous public, and the journey towards a Covid-free society remains a long haul. As the PM said, relaxing too soon would be the “worst thing we could do” and we cannot afford to have a second peak.

As Michael Gove said on Sunday, Britons will need to live with “some degree of constraint” and a loosening followed by a re-tightening would be particularly cruel. So for now, stick to the script: “Stay at Home. Protect the NHS. Save Lives.” For all our tomorrows, give your today.