We’ll get there, but easy does it

ONE small step at a time is how we are going to get out of lockdown.

Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement that groups of four can meet outdoors from Friday may well save Mother’s Day although Easter becoming the new Christmas is still not a certainty.

The slow process may quicken the impatience of many people for more liberty. But the figures do not lie. The virus is still out there and it is still killing people.

Despite the march of the vaccines there is still significant danger

Chris Whitty, the UK government’s trusted medical adviser, issued a grim warning yesterday that another 30,000 covid deaths could come in the next year with modelling showing another autumn or winter surge in infections.

All of that makes the basic rules of surviving this pandemic all the more important. That’s why incidents such as the celebrations in George Square by Rangers fans are all the more disappointing.

Our everyday lives will gradually improve inch by inch and step by step if the current trend continues

There has to be significant gaps in the easing of lockdown to measure the effect of the previous step, that much is obvious.

That is why dates for opening hairdressers, gyms and stadiums have to be indicative rather than definitive.

There is light at the end of the tunnel but we have to step towards it carefully.

SMART speakers such as Amazon Echo and Google Home could save lives by detecting heart problems.

Scientists used tech found in speakers including the Echo – whose virtual assistant is Alexa – to create a device to “hear” irregular heart rhythms, which can cause cardiac arrest or stroke.

The device, which could be built into speakers, is nearly as effective as hospital equipment in diagnosing cardiac arrhythmia.

Dr Arun Sridhar, of Washington University, said: “Availability of a lowcost test that can be performed frequently and at the convenience of home can be a game-changer.”