CHARLES GRAHAM: Minefield-strewn path back to post-pandemic normality

If, by any chance, we do manage to avoid being plunged back into a stricter lockdown following the anti-racism demos, the country will still be trying to pick its way towards a greater semblance of the old normality in the weeks to come.
Hairdressing Manila-style. A barber at work in the Philippines this weekHairdressing Manila-style. A barber at work in the Philippines this week
Hairdressing Manila-style. A barber at work in the Philippines this week

Non-essential retailers can re-open this Monday, including Wigan and Leigh’s indoor markets; charity shops are braced for a months-long backlog of house-bound clear-outs; dentists are permitted limited business (no drills or sprays); and spectactorless sport is gradually hoving back into view.

But at every corner there’s a problem or a contradiction.

The Government has been keen to see youngsters return to school amid a clamour on one side saying they are low risk and their lost education could be disastrous and equal pleading on the other saying they are mega-germ-spreaders who risk undoing all the good lockdown work. In the end the education secretary has admitted it will be impossible to get all primary school pupils back in the classroom for a month before the summer break.

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I know teeth are more important than hair (some folk have neither of course), but I’ve heard it argued that if dentists can be poking around in our mouths again, why can’t masked barbers stand behind us to crop our increasingly shaggy barnets?

And I’ve heard it asked that if pubs have large beer gardens and the ability to erect awnings to ward off less clement weather, isn’t there some leeway for some easing of restrictions in the hospitality sector too?

It was certainly good to see my mum and in-laws in the flesh for the first time in almost three months last week. It’ll be even better to see them indoors for a meal rather than shivering in a gale-blasted garden - but only when it’s safe to do so.

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