//With due respect Judge, the virus hasn't gone away,...//
I'm quite aware of that, Tony.
It won't "go away" for a long time yet. The problem is that if the country waits until it does most of its economy will be slaughtered to such a degree that the virus will be the least of its problems.
Currently much of the population is living in a fools' paradise. The weather's nice (well it was); they are getting paid; most of the things paid for by taxes are still working (even if the people themselves are not). They can go to the shops; they can go to the seaside; they can go to the pub from next Saturday. But it's not "safe" for them to go to work. But already huge numbers of jobs are being lost. The government has borrowed more in a month than it planned to in the entire year. The brown stuff is beginning to get near to the air conditioning. Children are not being educated (an absolute scandal) and both the physical and mental wellbeing of the country is under threat. Unless you happen to contract the virus, that is, when you will be well looked after. Suffer from anything else and you've had it, chum.
This cannot go on. The country needs to return to work; children need to return to school, the Exchequer needs to start taking in some serious taxes again or there will be no funds left for anything.
The "guidance" which accompanies the government's attempts to open up the hospitality industry will actually lead to many ventures simply going down the kharzi. Not only will they not be profitable, they will not be able to break even. I appreciate the need for vulnerable groups to take care. It goes without saying. But many people who are not in those groups are hiding behind the curtains. How long do they propose to do that? The virus will be around in earnest for probably a year, maybe longer. I know people, young and old, who are currently refusing to go out. People need to assess the risk to themselves before they take that decision and many have not. The chances of you even encountering a person with the virus are about 1 in 2,000. The chances of them passing it on to you are a great deal less than that. No, we don't need to go to pubs; we don't need to go to restaurants; we don't need to go on holiday. But to suggest people should not do all those things, or at least to do them only if taking totally disproportionate and sometimes downright silly measures is absurd.