A welcome return to a different kind of ‘normal’ life

Editorial: Now is the right time to relax social distancing rules to allow children to catch up on their education and to save people’s jobs and livelihoods

People walk past a social distancing sign on the high street in Winchester as non-essential shops reopened (PA)

For the past two weeks, no more people have died in the UK than would be expected at this time of year. Given that it is unrealistic to expect to eliminate the coronavirus completely, this seems a reasonable definition of having the outbreak under control. Now, therefore, the priority must shift towards restoring the non-medical damage wrought by the virus.

The most urgent need is to try to make up some of the deficit in children’s education. Friday’s announcement of funding for catch-up measures was welcome, as is the signalling of a cut in the two-metre distancing guideline expected to be announced this week. Everyone is now agreed that all children should be able to go back to school in September, or August in Scotland and Northern Ireland; this must be delivered, but it should not distract from the provision of extra classes, for as many pupils as possible, during what would have been the summer holiday. Indeed, English schools should be thinking about starting the autumn term in August too.

Getting children back to school will also help many parents get back to work: that is not the purpose of getting schools back to something like normal, but it is a valuable side effect. Because restoring the economy to some kind of normal is also an urgent priority.