From the editor: 'Show us the big plan so we can follow far more willingly'

We are hoping there will be a vaccine at some point and even though the guidance is confused, the main points are very clear. Keep your distance, wash your hands, wear a mask and use some common sense. Only fools would fail to do such simple steps. While I admit I still get to shop doors before I remember to put my mask on, I wouldn’t dream of entering without one.

I understand what a difference individuals can make and that our combined response is the most effective way to true change – but what I want to know is what is our exit plan?

What path do our leaders plan for us to follow for the next year or five?

It will be a windy road but everybody always needs to know the way forward, or at least that somebody has a plan to get us to the other end.

That is what allows countries to be proactive and take decisive action before things get too bad. It is also what stops the confusion, anger and division caused by acting too late. We all remember the accusations that lives would have been saved if March’s lockdown had happened a couple of weeks earlier.

It is one thing to sit in Westminster and announce that huge sections of the north must be put under tight restrictions. It is quite another to do it without giving a glimmer of hope that there is a way forward and reassurance that we will be helped in that direction until we get to some kind of finish line.

I wish I had faith that there was a big plan nationally. I would also love to believe that such a strategy existed for individual cities and it shouldn’t be too much to ask for it to be localised to specific neighbourhoods.

March hit us like a ton of bricks and there wasn’t much warning. Now it is different. The experts have learnt lots about this virus and there have been numerous suggestions on positive ways to deal with it.

The problem is politicians haven’t pulled it into a long term plan. It can be done even though it must allow for bumps in the road. Nobody expects a flawless, magical journey but we do need a torch to light the way.