Harrogate MP speaks out on easing lockdown restrictions

The former rail minister’s comments come just days from the latest Government review next week of the nationwide social restrictions lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Mr Jones said, although no details were yet available about how restrictions on movement and gatherings were going to be lifted, it seemed certain that over the next few weeks and months there was going to be a gradual relaxation.

Mr Jones said: “I know people are becoming restless with lockdown. It is affecting all our lives to a huge degree.

“It has been essential though to get the transmission rate of coronavirus right down.

"We aren’t quite there yet but we are moving in the right direction. But to continue moving in the right direction we need to double down on our efforts to follow the clinical advice we are getting.”

As concern over the economic impact of the lockdown grows, a school of thought is emerging that businesses needed to come up with new business models going forward that took the virus into consideration.

The Harrogate MP said local businesses had to adapt to the new circumstances if they were to reopen.

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Mr Jones “As we emerge from lockdown that clinical advice will change and we must continue to follow it.

“It will change because we want to re-open our businesses, our charities, our social lives and our communities in a safe way.

“Each business and each organisation will be different and need to think differently about how they respond to the easing of lockdown restrictions.

“But there is one thing we do know – businesses and community groups who have a plan and can demonstrate how they will operate in a range of scenarios are more likely to emerge from lockdown quicker and more successfully than those who cannot. That is why it is important to start planning now.”

Mr Jones said businesses had to be ready for a variety of possibilities including opening for just a few hours a day at first, social distancing for an extended period and laying out premises in order to operate in a way which minimised human contact.

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