| Good evening, It seems that we are constantly taking one step forward and then two steps back... Three weeks ago, when pubs and restaurants were allowed to start serving people out of doors we appeared to be heading back to normal - or at least to be on the right track. Then out of the blue, the Indian variant emerges, spreading new Covid cases, particularly in the North of England and pretty close to home here in Lancashire. And so the Government quietly popped into a report - without publicity - that people in those areas with a high number of cases would be expected to ‘stay local’ ie not travel outside the immediate area and not meet up with people indoors. Sound familiar? It is being called variously mini-lockdown and lockdown lite. Whatever it is called, it is the imposition of restrictions in areas which have hardly emerged from lockdown in a year. And yet, if the advice of our public health champions, who called for swift action to stop the spread in its tracks, had been listened to, we might be in a different place altogether. Until next time, take care, Contact me at [email protected] Gillian Parkinson Editor Lancashire Post and Associate Editor Blackpool Gazette | 
