Simon Jones: Stepping into the breach

Yesterday (February 22), Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined what the government hopes will be the UK’s path out of lockdown. I say hopes, because with each new phase of eased coronavirus restrictions, data will have to be analysed before the country can unlock the next stage – something that seems lost in much of the mainstream media reporting, which touted the June 21 date as the date when all social distancing measures will be scrapped.

As a sector that has slowed down instead of locking down during the pandemic, optometry and optics has a different roadmap to normality and the next few months could well be the hardest yet. The reality is that we don’t yet know how the dust will settle.