How and why NI must learn to live with the virus?

Confidence is at the heart of every successful economy. Confidence among businesses to grow, invest and create new jobs.

Confidence among staff to go to work every day; innovate and deliver. And confidence among customers to spend money on goods and services.  

For the past 18 months, the mood across the Northern Irish economy has been anything but confident, with stop-start restrictions taking their toll across numerous sectors. And while tentative steps towards recovery are now underway, it will take time to fully restore that fragile confidence. That’s why it’s now crucial that we find a way to live with the virus, enabling us to go about our daily lives in comfort and security.

Many will question why, with Covid-19 not yet over and new more transmissible variants giving cause for concern, we should be looking to resume something approaching normal life now.

Let’s be absolutely clear, ‘living with the virus’ doesn’t mean throwing caution to the wind. Far from it. Too many people have lost their lives and livelihoods for that to happen. But nor does it mean returning to the social and economic hibernation we’ve experienced for so long. What we need is a sensible balance.

We must accept that we may never be totally free of Covid-19. The unpredictability of variants could see it hang around like a very unwanted house guest for many years to come. But while it may never be fully eradicated, it can be properly managed. Importantly we are now in a position where risks to the most vulnerable have been effectively minimised.

So how do we go about living safely with the virus?

We start with a vaccine rollout that is already a world-beating success. The extraordinary efforts of the public and private sectors working in partnership to develop and deliver an effective vaccine across the UK has put us in a position where Covid can, finally, be pushed into the background. That’s why promoting vaccine uptake, particularly among staff, is such a no-brainer for business. Put simply, the greater the level of public immunisation, the more secure workplaces will be. That, in turn, gives greater confidence to customers and staff alike as they return to their places of work and go about their everyday lives.

But there’s also a role for enterprise in helping us bank and leverage the platform vaccines provide. The public and private sectors must work together to ensure the successes of the vaccine programme are replicated when it comes to potential booster initiatives later in the year. While we maybe in the early stages of these discussions, it’s important once again that businesses are permitted to be part of the solution.

That double-vaccinated people will no longer need to self-isolate if they are identified as a contact of someone testing positive for Covid is a huge relief to businesses across Northern Ireland. While testing has always been a vitally important tool in controlling the pandemic, the number of double-vaccinated people being ‘pinged’ had become out of proportion with the scale of transmission. This had the effect of depriving businesses of healthy staff just when they needed them most – as they look to welcome more and more customers back through the door.

There are also a range of Covid-secure tools at our disposal to help build confidence. Face masks can continue to inspire confidence in certain close-contact spaces, including public transport and retail settings. That should reassure many. Other interventions like mandatory Covid status certificates, if being considered at a UK or devolved level, must be considered carefully and involve clear partnership with business. For areas like international travel, we have to employ a clear, risk-based approach. The UK cannot afford to be first on vaccines but last in reopening international trade. Prolonging the economic impact of Covid simply keeps vital jobs at risk.  

One thing that will puzzle firms is the Executive’s continuation of the ‘work from home’ approach. At a time when we’re looking to ramp-up economic recovery, and with so many restrictions now having been lifted, that starts to look like a mixed message – particularly as we need to convey a sense of public and business confidence now more than ever.

Confidence can be a fragile thing, but we know that its relationship to growth is a strong one. Better confidence leads to greater spending, investment and output – enabling Northern Irish businesses at last to trade their way to recovery. To paraphrase Field of Dreams: “If you build confidence, growth will come.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Thank you