Back down to business as lockdown ends... for good
THERE may have been many times when ‘keep calm and carry on’ has been the order of the day but perhaps not as appropriate as it is now.
With Birmingham looking at its finest, bars and restaurants becoming full again, the sun shining, an 18 years old Brit, Emma Raducanu, getting through to the second week of Wimbledon and oh yes, the England team in the semi-finals of Euro 2020, the national psyche is definitely on an upward trajectory.
It’s been great to see crowds enjoying the tennis at SW19 and 40,000 England supporters in full voice at Wembley, but it does feel strange.
I spent a day at Edgbaston watching the Test match against New Zealand and although the Covid checks were carried out very efficiently by staff, it did feel a little weird at first.
The government are confident that the population, because of its vaccination programme, has built up a very considerable wall of immunity which is why for the semi-finals and final at Wembley crowd capacity was extended to 60,000.
Not everybody, of course, was happy about this prospect, especially Chancellor Merkel, who at a recent meeting with the Prime Minister urged him to reign back on large crowd sizes. In Germany the maximum allowed is 14,500 in a sporting venue.
Against this background, the new Health Secretary and local MP Sajid Javid is said to be instinctively in favour of easing the current restrictions and, like the Prime Minister, is keen to open up the economy.
The message from government appears to be that Covid is here for good and that we’re just going to have to live with it.
Health professionals remain nervous about this approach and have warned that easing restrictions too fast will see a significant rise in new cases.
The key difference now, however, is that around eight in ten adults in the UK have the necessary anti-bodies to help fight the disease. This means fewer hospital admissions and mercifully fewer deaths.
Personal responsibility is likely to be the key message after July 19. Business will have an important part to play too.
Whereas the government are said to be moving away from the compulsory wearing of face masks, many businesses will continue to encourage their use, the regular use of hand sanitisers and some measure of social distancing in the office in order to keep everyone safe.
I recently attended an online meeting run by the Birmingham Law Society of local managing partners of Birmingham-based law firms and it was clear that a lot of preparation has
The message from government appears to be that Covid is here for good and that we’re just going to have to live with it...
already gone into what the “new normal” will look like, including the much talked about concept of the “hybrid” working model as we gradually return to the office.
One measure that employers are keen to see abandoned is the rule that those who have received both vaccinations will need to self-isolate for 10 days in the event that they come into contact with someone with the virus. Currently this means that whole workforces may have to be sent home if a single person tests positive for Covid even though other staff test negative.
What businesses want more than anything else, however, is finality and the end of lockdowns for good, which means that although they want restrictions eased in order to allow effective business operation, they don’t want this to be at the expense of further lockdowns.
So the Prime Minister and our new Health Secretary have some tricky decisions to make in the lead up to July 19.
As always, the Chamber will continue to advise our regional businesses on what the latest announcements mean for them and raising any areas of concern with key local and national stakeholders.
In the meantime, let’s hope that our heroes in all sports continue to provide much-needed relief and enjoyment from our Covid-dominated world.