Express & Star

How is it for you? Take part in the Express & Star lockdown survey

We want your views on the state of the region as lockdown restrictions begin to ease.

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From today shops selling non-essential items have reopened, while schools are already back for some pupils and Premier League football makes its return on Wednesday.

While they are all signs of the nation coming out of its coronavirus-induced slumber, we want to gauge your views on a range of issues surrounding the crisis.

The online survey closely mirrors one this newspaper ran a month ago, and comparing the results will enable us to see if people’s views have changed as the lockdown has progressed.

Take part in the survey here:

Much has changed since then, but the search for some kind of genuine normality continues.

The Office for National Statistics says that more that 50,000 UK death certificates mention Covid-19, with the number of deaths in care homes topping 14,000 in England and Wales.

The UK economy shrunk by a record 20 per cent in April, a contraction three times greater than the decline seen during the entire 2008-09 economic downturn.

In our last survey readers were broadly supportive of the Government’s efforts to combat the pandemic.

Since then Boris Johnson has come under fire over issues including care homes and testing, while his handling of the Dominic Cummings affair caused anger in some quarters.

Many people have also expressed concerns over Labour’s response. Recently elected leader Keir Starmer has been accused of using the pandemic to play the blame game and score cheap political points, while Labour MPs have also attracted criticism from some sections of the electorate by defending those responsible for pulling down and defacing statues during recent protests.

We want to hear your views on the Government’s performance throughout the pandemic. Should those in charge be held to account for any failings which have taken place, or is it too early to point the finger of blame?

Lockdown restrictions are now starting to ease and we want your take on how the issue has been handled.

Ministers have consistently said that they have been guided by the science, but has the country emerged from the lockdown too soon?

Concerns have been raised about the consequences of a second wave of the virus, although MPs from all sides are acutely aware of the damage to the economy that would result from continuing with draconian measures.

One of the most contentious issues has involved the reopening of schools. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson had initially wanted to see all primary pupils back in the classroom before the end of summer term. But that plan has now been torn up after headteachers and unions warned it would not be possible to bring so many youngsters back while maintaining social distancing.

We want to know how you feel about the return of pupils to school and how you have dealt with the lockdown on a personal level. Do you think your mental health has suffered over the last couple of months, and do you think society has become kinder during the crisis?

Entries close at midnight on Thursday.