Covid lockdown: Scotland takes a big step towards normality – Scotsman comment

Was it the chance to get a haircut? To stand in a big queue outside Ikea? The re-opening of garden centres in time for spring?

Nicola Sturgeon took a selfie to mark a momentous day as hairdressers and other businesses re-opened (Picture: Nicola Sturgeon).

Perhaps it was just the idea that all these very ordinary things were once again possible that made your day.

For many people, the Covid lockdown is now that little bit easier to deal with and, over the coming weeks, it is set to be relaxed further as progress continues to be made to vaccinate the population.

But it is worth remembering that both Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon stressed they would be guided by “data not dates” when they laid out their roadmaps out of lockdown. So we still need to stick to the rules to help our politicians keep making the decisions that we all want them to make.

Certainly, the businesses allowed to re-open for the first time in months will be desperately hoping that they are not forced to close yet again.

And those others still waiting for permission to start trading will be even more eager for this latest relaxation of the restrictions to be a success so the arrival of the happy day when they can get back to work is not delayed.

Companies that have survived this terrible crisis need our help – not just in the form of our custom but by continuing to do our bit to stem the spread of this disease.

This is the process through which our economy is starting to recover and our lives are edging closer, little by little, to what may now seem like a dream of normality.

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