If it feels like there is an element of panic in the heart of government that is because there is – and it is justified.

Since the first cases of coronavirus emerged in late winter the government has failed to get its messaging right.

Some of the rhetoric that has come out of Downing Street has been baffling – especially when one of the architects of the response, the prime minister’s chief advisor Dominic Cummings, flouted the lockdown rules.

So as the cases in the North began to rise at an alarming rate the government had to act. And the three-tier, traffic light system has been put in place in a bid to finally get the message across as simply as possible.

We welcome local lockdowns because they will protect businesses outside areas with exponential infection increases.

But for them to be successful the government needs buy-in from the public. And, perhaps understandably, in some areas patience is running out.

We are now standing on the precipice of what will most likely be a long, dark and very hard winter. Norfolk and Waveney have not yet seen a huge spike in cases. But the trajectory is upwards.

Entering a deep lockdown would devastating for this region – and the real power lies not in Westminster or Whitehall but right here. This is our fight so let’s all do our bit to protect jobs and lives in the East.