A plan for exiting the Covid-19 lockdown, expected at least in part from the Northern Ireland Executive yesterday, did not materialise.
In reality it could be the start of next week before we get any further details about what looks set be a long, slow road to recovery.
By then Boris Johnson will have delivered his own plans for moving to the next phase.
And therefore it is easy to see why, on perception at least, the executive has been accused of waiting on the nod from London to how we should progress.
The public in this region have been compliant and supportive of restrictions to date, evidenced by the low numbers of deaths in comparison to the dire predictions at the start of the crisis.
With the announcement this week that Northern Ireland's only Nightingale hospital is to be wound down as it was being largely unused, the coronavirus battle has moved locations.
The fight is no longer in the hospitals, which have not been overrun as feared, but in the nursing homes.
Our older generation is the one that is paying the highest price.
Care home staff, many of them employees of private companies, have been the people left to deal with what have been terrifyingly high numbers of Covid transmissions.
At least some of the resources no longer needed in hospital settings must now be moved to the residential care sector.
Politically the next big challenge will be showing that the executive has the courage to make decisions that are good for the people of this region, both in terms of health, wellbeing and economic survival.
The test, trace and isolate phase of the exit strategy will be the most difficult to navigate, given the close proximity of a different jurisdiction which will be using a completely different online tracing system.
Our leaders must show that they are willing to make brave decisions, and if required act unilaterally for the good of the people they represent.
Reliance on London or Dublin for direction means delaying decisions that are needed now.
Treating people like adults and giving them information, whether good or bad, is an essential part of mature leadership.
The people of the north will not be patronised or silenced by political spin.
The questions will keep coming and the politicians need to be armed with the answers.
