Coronavirus diary, Saturday 9 May

The Road Map

So the Prime Minister is going to provide us with his road map. I wonder what sort of road he has in mind. It will certainly not be a motorway, more likely a winding country lane with no signposts to show us the way. 

1940: removing road signs in Wiltshire

It reminds me of wartime Britain when all signposts were removed to confuse the Germans when they landed. I don't think that would have worried them, they would have worked out the route to London. 

I have always been a useless  navigator, dithering at roundabouts even with the satnav lady. Once, on an orienteering exercise, I got lost, returning to base hours late. I still don't know how I managed sixty years ago to drive my family from Cardiff to Innsbruck. 

Mr Johnson, I fear, is not much better judging by the difficulty he has had so far making decisions about what we should do and where we should be going to defeat coronavirus. He has not been helped by the different paths other countries are taking.The past week has seen a range of measures by countries anxious to give their people  hope and encouragement after the rigours of lockdown.

Germany, always more pragmatic and efficient, is opening more shops and allowing professional football to restart. 
Italy is encouraging businesses to get back to work and permitting funerals to take place. In the Czech republic, universities are reopening. Italy is letting people get out more and opening pubs, but only for coffee. Hairdressers and florists are are back in Switzerland. Even hard hit Spain is letting children go out for walks. 

Is there a way out of the maze?

None of these countries has a road map. France has a strategy, to be unveiled next week, Italy a timetable. We have that road map. I think it is more a maze, difficult and seemingly impenetrable. I hope Mr Johnson will find the right way out or his road forward. Our government is as cautious as ever - the lockdown continues for another three weeks.