Opinion : Is it the right time to start relaxing the lockdown?

The sun is shining, the weather is fine and the lockdown is soon to be eased back.

It seems that from Monday 1st June 2020 the lockdown is to be relaxed so groups of up to six people from different households will be able to meet outside in England.

Some schools will also soon be opening their doors again while all non-essential shops will be open for business again from Monday 15th June 2020.

However the virus is still floating around in the community, indeed the figures for confirmed cases published in the news section of this site still show daily rises in cases in the Aylesbury and Wycombe areas albeit a small increase each day.

So is now the right time to start ending the lockdown or is it too soon?

Well, articles published in some national news sites appear to convey the view from some experts that the return of the schools could lead to an increase in cases of the virus.

In my view surely it would be better to wait a little longer before lifting the lockdown in the hope of completely eradicating the virus? After all the last thing the country needs is a resurgence of the virus.

What’s the point of re-opening schools for a month or so only for the long summer holidays to kick in? If school is so important why not keep the school open through the summer to catch up on the learning that has been lost?

But the big question is will people actually venture out once lockdown restrictions are lifted?

My good self has heard, by telephone, from a friend who tells me that despite a handful shops in Wycombe town centre being open there are very few people actually doing any shopping.

Once the lockdown is relaxed for the non-essential shops it will be interesting to see just how many people actually do venture out.

Those who can work from home are doing so and it seems there are very few passengers on the drastically reduced bus services that are running at the moment.

Judging by the revised bus timetables that come into effect in Wycombe from Monday 1st June 2020 there is not expected to be a great surge in bus travel. Indeed both the 32 and 33 main cross-town bus routes are only running two services an hour at off peak times and just one an hour on a Saturday.

In my opinion people may well stay locked down while letting the brave (or should that be foolhardy) venture out into the big wide world to meet friends, family and, from Monday 15th June 2020, visit non-essential shops.

As for my good self, well, yours truly is not going to be venturing out any time soon indeed the weather is fine and I am more than happy with life as it is fully locked down at my ancestral home.

However when the time comes to go out my good self will be very cautions. My eyes seem perfectly good but I may well go for a drive in my car to ‘test my eyes’ to make sure they are working properly before undertaking a long journey. My first journey will probably be to Desborough Castle as I can’t make it as far as Barnard Castle in County Durham which seems the ideal place to go for such a journey.

My legs seem fine too but could they withstand a long walk after being locked down for so long? Perhaps a short walk to ‘test my legs’ may be wise as well?

What do you think?

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