WOW, so from today we are entering phase one of the First Minister’s four-phase “route map” towards reopening society whilst still attempting to suppress the virus.

I was delighted to hear this news yesterday as it’s given me a glimmer of hope as we start to ease our way back into the outside world again. It is daunting however. Aside for going on an occasional walk around the local area with my kids, I have been housebound for 12 weeks. I drove for the first time last week to attend a GP appointment and it felt like the strangest thing - liberating in part but also quite anxiety provoking.

The thought of re-integrating back into society and in a whole new way does evoke a mixture of emotions. We want to see our loved ones but we cannot physically get near them – I wonder will people really be able to abide?

Pictures last week were trending on social media that showed packed beaches in England where people floughted rules to enjoy the sunshine with their friends and family. As a doctor watching this, it is terrifying.

Next we heard about the floughting of rules by a senior government advisor which has sadly been backed by the prime minister. 

The message that this has sent out to the general public is that it’s okay to bend the rules if it suits you. 

It’s alarming, dangerous and frankly irresponsible of the PM to have supported this, especially after the sacrifices that we, as a nation, have made to get through to this point.

So now that we have some hope and restrictions are starting to ease up, the one wish I have is for people to go slow and steady with it. We are only at the early stages of what will be a very long and complex process to recovery. The virus is still very active and very dangerous so we must all continue to do our part.

Moving forward, it is imperative that everything that have been practising with regards to reducing our personal risks of contracting Covid remain part of our new normal way of life.

We must continue to stay home as much as possible and not ease up on this. By regularly washing our hands, carrying hand sanitizers, wearing face coverings where necessary and keeping our distances from others, we will reduce our own risks as well as our risks of harming others.

This regime will now have to become part of our daily rituals if we are to continue to keep the vital R number down. This number is a way of rating a disease’s ability to spread. It’s the number of people that one infected person will pass the virus on to, on average; the lower the R number the better it is for us all. 

The government cannot do anything about this, it is up to all of us.

We have all been feeling irritable and restless as the weeks have gone on. This is what it feels like to have cabin fever. It is normal to feel anxious and worried so take your time to process the new guidance and remember that home is still the safest place to be.