We’re better to be safe than sorry
CORONAVIRUS is here and the authorities say it is going to spread across the country.
Scotland’s chief medical officer Catherine Calderwood’s detailed briefing pulled no punches.
About 250,000 people in Scotland could be admitted to hospital in this outbreak – higher than the population of Aberdeen.
Across the UK, two million could be seeking treatment from a strained NHS.
On yesterday’s evidence, the Scottish Government and officials are briefed and ready to explain what is happening. They are deliberately looking at the worst-case scenario, as they see it. In Downing Street, Boris Johnson promises a plan today.
Yesterday’s “emergency Cobra” meeting in London had been arranged before the weekend. And nerves were hardly soothed by broadcast images of Tory caricature Jacob Rees-Mogg waffling on about singing the national anthem while urging people to wash their hands.
Appearances aside, there is a limit to the amount of trust we can place in politicians dealing with a health problem.
That’s where the medical and scientific experts come in.
Just now, everyone seems to be carrying on as normal. The Scotland v France rugby match in Edinburgh on Sunday is going ahead and the global UN gathering in Glasgow is still on – for now. But there may come a time when scientific advice calls a halt to mass events.
We’re not there yet, but people are understandably getting anxious with so many unknowns.
To deal with coronavirus, we need a collective response and to take collective responsibility.
That means taking precautions with hygiene, listening to health advice and all of us doing what we can to limit the damage.
guided very firmly by the scientific advice that all four Governments are receiving.”
It means fans of Lewis Capaldi will get to see the superstar singer play at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro on Thursday and Friday.
A group of Scots who were stuck in the Costa Adeje Palace
Hotel in Tenerife were finally back home last night.
Several guests tested positive with the virus but Stephen and Lynn Diamond, from Glasgow, tested negative and landed in Manchester last night on a Jet2 flight.
Speaking after the Cobra meeting, Johnson said people “should go about business as usual” and added the UK was “well prepared”.
But he warned the spread of Covid-19 was “likely” to become more significant within days.
He said: “We have agreed a plan so that if and when it starts to spread, as I’m afraid it looks likely it will, we are in a position to take the steps necessary to contain the spread of the disease as far as we can, and to protect the most vulnerable.”
Further details of the UK’s containment plan will be announced today. The Cobra