Critical workers and critical businesses deserve our thanks at this time of emergency

Many of those frontline staff have become ill due to exposure to patients (exacerbated by serious shortage of protective gear and low testing of key workers).

Still the non ill or recovered staff turn up for work in large numbers, some coming out of retirement, to work long shifts.

As Stephen Nolan said in the tweet below, it was an emotional moment. Similar outpourings of public support have been shown in Italy and in Spain, greatly fortifying health staff.

Imagine the alternative: a nightmare world in which key workers fled from their duties, and left the sick to die.

Thankfully, around the world, humanity is better than that.

There are, at the same time, people who have not risen to the occasion. People who ignore essential government advice on social distancing and in some cases have parties.

The only way to deal with such folk is penalties. Last night, it was still not clear what powers the PSNI will have here.

We trust that all political parties are doing their bit to get these powers into place, and will then support the PSNI implementation at this time of national emergency.

As David McNarry writes opposite, there must be no hesitation in calling in the army to help in NI if and as required.

They, the police officers and the soldiers, deserve our deepest gratitude too (as well as the postal workers, teachers, delivery people, carers, store workers and so on, across a range of life). That hundreds of thousands of people have volunteered to support the NHS shows the public appetite to help out too.

Some politicians have been quick to imply that some businesses are behaving badly. Some no doubt are. But we must also thank businesses that are doing crucial work to make the food that supply the supermarkets that we all want and need at this time. Thank goodness those firms are still operating, and not shutting up shop. They deserve our appreciation, and government support on how to keep their workforces safe.