The coronavirus pandemic has brought tragedy to families around the world who have lost loved ones and created unprecedented challenges for health services, societies and Governments.
While the spread of the virus now appears to be coming under control, the full economic cost becomes clearer every day. The aviation and aerospace sector in particular has been especially hard hit.
Flight schedules and airports have lain empty for months, production lines in our manufacturing heartlands stand idle, and this week quarantine restrictions have been imposed on travellers, deepening the difficulties our industries face.
In the UK, aerospace manufacturing employs 114,000 people, generates nearly £32bn in exports and has seen 19pc turnover growth since 2014, buoyed by rising demand for fuel efficient modern aircraft.
Large numbers of these workers are now furloughed and companies faced with declining orders are already being forced to announce redundancy plans, putting at least 20,000 of these jobs at risk and potentially thousands more.
The UK Government has provided welcome support on an economy-wide basis, staving off mass redundancies this spring through the Job Retention Scheme, and offering much-needed lending to help those businesses that can achieve a swift return to normal operations.
However, there is growing international recognition that support to help companies survive the lockdown is not sufficient to support industries where the consequences stretch beyond the immediate crisis and into the future.
The French Government has recognised the unique challenges faced by its aerospace industry and today unveiled a €15bn package of support for its aerospace industry. French finance minister Bruno Le Maire warned that without state intervention, one third of jobs in the sector were at risk.
The support put in place for French aerospace manufacturers matches the vital measures ADS has called for here since the UK Government published its recovery strategy on 11 May.
They include a €1.5bn fund for research into green aircraft technology, funding for supply chain modernisation, accelerated defence procurement programmes that will support manufacturers with both civil and defence production, and their suppliers.
Despite the terrible toll taken by this pandemic, there is an opportunity for Government and industry to work together to make sure the UK plays a leading role in designing, developing and manufacturing the clean aircraft of the future that will help us achieve net zero carbon emissions.
This requires strategic intervention and urgent action to make sure manufacturing and R&D capabilities are not lost and our international competitors take too strong a lead.
Around the world, Governments are acting to support airlines, manufacturers and their supply chains. By doing so, they are protecting the prosperity of communities that depend on the jobs these businesses provide and securing a greater share of a global aerospace market that will return to growth in the coming years, once the effects of the pandemic recede.
The UK Government must urgently put in place the measures we need to make sure our industry is not left behind.
Paul Everitt is chief executive of ADS, the UK trade association for the aerospace, defence, security and space sectors