I fear Boris is right to be ultra-cautious over lockdown-lifting

Boris has spoken. At last after three long weeks of treatment and recovery, the British prime minister is back up and running and starts the week off with a statement to the nation from outside Number 10. Very presidential. Not surprisingly he is against lifting any social distancing and lockdown restrictions, at least for the moment which probably means three or four more weeks. Terrible news for businesses struggling to survive but I fear Boris is right. The country has made good progress in helping to bring down the pandemic statistis and the NHS, while struggling against all the odds with limited supplies of personal protective equipment and testing etc has survived and is surviving better now that the incoming patients with Covid-19 are reducing in number. But, yes, it's too early to tell the nation to start going back to normal. But sometime within the next month, Boris, please give us an idea what steps could be taken to lift restrictions and in what order even if you don't have a timetable in mind. Everyone needs something to look forward to. Just being told we have at least another month of total shutdown provides no sense of optimism. Judging by photographs in the papers today a lot of people are making up their own minds about when to lift restrictions. There are, unbelievably, pictures of packed Underground trains as people go back to work. Go back to what sort of work? I thought everyone was supposed to be working from home where possible. So those pictures were alarming, especially as they appeared only a couple of hours before Boris stood outside No 10 Downing to warn the country that it would be madness to undo all the progress that had been made. It's clear that this country, probably like all countries, is in a state of confusion, frustration and what I might call soditness. In other words, sod this virus, let's get back to normal. But that would be irresponsible and a kick in the face for the NHS doctors and nurses who have sacrificed so much to get us where we are today and to the families of those who have died - more than 20,000 now - who understand more than anyone how important it is to keep the lid on for another few weeks. Somehow we all have to prepare for another month of lockdown and in that time we can watch and learn from other countries who are beginning to lift restrictions. If Italy, Spain and others successfully but gradually open up for business once again and there is no return of the virus, then Boris and his cabinet will feel more comfortable about starting to do the same in the UK. That, to me, sounds like a sensible way forward. So, please, no more pictures of overcrowded Tube trains. That has to be stopped surely.