Celebrate freedom ...but prepare for a financial hangover

EVERYONE dreamt of various freedoms returning to get them through the third lockdown. For some, the landmark date has already arrived: a trip to the pub with friends, being able to legally hug one’s parents again and venture on some foreign trips.

- Kate Andrews

Others are still holding out hope for a big wedding this summer or a long-delayed family reunion.

Though there are concerns over the Indian variant, the general data continues to look positive, which should allow the doors to freedom to swing open on June 21. With Covid hospitalisations and deaths both more than 97 per cent below their peak we could be looking at a celebration of vaccines over the virus.

But we must not kid ourselves it will all be good news. As we unlock further, we are bound to discover not just our old freedoms, but new problems that have formed over the course of the pandemic.

It’s estimated that close to five million people are now on an NHS waiting list, a record number eagerly anticipating treatment.

The National Foundation for Educational Research estimated last winter that the shift from classrooms to Zoom calls resulted in months of lost learning for disadvantaged students, which could undo a decade’s worth of social mobility advancement. Thousands of students have gone missing from the school roll completely.

Meanwhile, a mental health crisis is unfolding as stress, loneliness and isolation have taken their toll on a wide range of groups, including teenagers, hospital workers, and care home residents.