Yorkshire leads by example as lockdown eased – The Yorkshire Post says

Its very own three Rs, ahead of a two-day Y21 conference intended to set the scene for a new era of tourism in the wake of both Covid and the tourism body’s local difficulties, also reflect a discernible change in the national mood.

After all, this latest lockdown appears to have had a far greater impact on physical and mental health than the initial restrictions put in place last March – a long, cold winter added to this fatigue, monotony and daily dread.

As such, it is paramount that the public – and also politicians for that matter – do not get too ahead of themselves and continue to be guided by the science as they assess how outdoor gatherings affect Covid’s wider prevalance for now.

That is why it is right to gradually reopen outdoor attractions before wider numbers are encouraged – the recovery phase – and then a concerted push, when the time is right, to rebuild UK tourism when it is safe to do so.

The one advantage that Britain enjoys, at this moment, is the unprecedented success of the vaccine programme, hence why the eyes of the world will be on this country in the days, and weeks, to come.

For, if the relaxation in rules do not lead to a spike a Covid cases that, in turn, puts the wider NHS at risk, science will have passed its ultimate ‘litmus test’ and there will be more than just hope on the horizon – a return to near-normality will be in sight after the most difficult year since the Second World War.

But it also requires three more Rs – resolve, resilience and restraint – on the public’s part before this week’s small steps do become, to paraphrase Neil Armstrong, the next giant leap for mankind.

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