July 4th will see further easing of the lock down restrictions with social distancing now at 1 metre plus rather than 2 metres and indoor gatherings of 2 households allowed. July 4th will also see the welcome reopening of many facilities such as places of worship, cafes, museums and hair salons.
Boris Johnson has said that "as we give people back more control over their lives, we will be asking them to follow guidance on limiting their social contact, rather than forcing them to do so through legislation" That sounds encouraging and fosters the belief that things are gradually returning to normal so we can begin working to get the economy back on track. Unfortunately the problem with relaxing the legislation is that we have to rely on people using their common sense and if the recent scenes from Bournemouth beach and elsewhere around the country are anything to go on it would seem that common sense is in short supply.
Harriet Beecher-Stowe described common sense as "seeing things as they are; and doing things as they ought to be" whilst the Cambridge Dictionary defines it as "the basic level of practical knowledge and judgement that we all need to help us live in a reasonable and safe way"
Balancing the needs of the economy against the health of the nation is an almost impossible task and many fear that relaxing the lock down measures too early may cause a second wave of Covid-19 cases. Hopefully Common Sense will prevail and people will continue to abide by the Government guidelines but sadly all too often it seems that Common Sense is like deodorant - the people who need it most never use it.
