Enjoy our reopened shops – responsibly

THE reopening of non-essential shops is a significant milestone on our journey back towards what we used to regard as normality.

For most of us, the restrictions on our lives have been accepted as a necessary burden to bear in the wake of a pandemic that has killed so many.

But that doesn’t detract from the huge amount of suffering the lockdown has caused.

From an economic point of view, it has dealt a huge blow to businesses and their employees.

The inability to trade has robbed them of their livelihood and purpose. We know that a significant proportion will not reopen and that more jobs will be lost.

Reopening the economy has not come a moment too soon for large numbers of shops that have just about managed to cling on.

Yesterday, the enthusiasm was palpable in our cities and towns as customers returned for the first time in months.

As those who spoke to our reporters testified, the ability to enter a store and choose what you want to buy is for many a pleasure in itself.

Life without such opportunities can be pretty dour, as many have discovered over the past year.

What’s absolutely important, however, is that shopping is undertaken with a spirit of responsibility.

While it’s understandable that people want to take full advantage of the lockdown relaxation, we must not forget that Covid-19 and all its variants remain a serious threat to our health and wellbeing.

The roll-out of the vaccines is going well, but it will be some months yet before everyone who sensibly wants to be inoculated has received two jabs.

Social distancing and the wearing of face coverings will be important for longer than people might prefer, but the virulent nature of some Covid variants makes that unavoidable.

The next big staging post to recovery will be the reopening of pubs and restaurants, initially outdoors only.

This will be a potential risk, bringing the possibility of another wave of infections unless everyone continues to fulfil their public health responsibility.

The last thing anyone wants is for lockdown restrictions to return again after they have been eased.

Everyone must play their part in ensuring that this does not happen.

After all the sacrifices that have been made over the past year or so, it’s imperative that we act responsibly to secure a safe future.