Slowly, very slowly, we are starting the move back to normal lives. But we have barely begun the long haul to life without CV-19.

In exactly the same way that the lockdown was less than straightforward, with support being targeted for the easy to help areas first, the releasing of the metaphorical hand-brake is just as opaque.

For example, those 450,000 people whose home moves were put on hold a couple of months ago are now allowed to go ahead with moving house.

Estate agents, conveyancers, removal firms and house viewers are all now allowed to go into someone’s home whilst that same person’s own family cannot. It seems odd.

The reason is that the government must make that almost impossible balance between the demands placed on it by CV-19, and the demands placed by our economy.

Economists suggest that the economy could shrink by a quarter, and the housing market fall by a fifth. Estimates of the cost to the government run to around £300 billion.

A quarter of the workforce is being paid for by the government under the furlough scheme. Meanwhile, CV-19 deaths top 40,000, and non CV-19 excess deaths show a similar order of magnitude.

The gentle relaxing of the lockdown rules mean we have a complex set of challenges.

If a worker can only work away from home, they can go back to work, but only if their children’s school has reopened, and their children fit in with the year groups going back. It is far from straightforward.

To a certain extent, the government must rely on people’s common sense. It is impossible to design a system that works for 100 per cent of the population – people live varied lives.

The core message is “stay alert”. Despite the ridicule from the press, I get the impression most people know what that means: don’t be complacent, remember to self-distance, only expose yourself to other people if necessary and stay at home as much as possible.

So, these are baby steps toward a normal life. It will last for a few months yet, and for it to work, everyone must play their part.

But it is worth remembering the lessons from the post WWI era.

The Spanish ‘flu epidemic took more lives in the second spike than in the first. That is why we must stay alert, and not let this disease get the better of us.