New virus crackdown will do untold harm

MONTHS of collective effort and sacrifice helped to force coronavirus into retreat.

It was a strategy that appeared to be working, but yesterday came confirmation of a giant backward step.

Gatherings of more than six people have been banned – and even then they are capped at two households. Mercifully, children under 12 are excluded, but it’s still a blow for families across Scotland.

Beyond a miracle, Christmas – a glimmer of hope in a gloomy year – is as good as cancelled. It’s a move that cruelly dashes hopes that we may have put the worst of the virus behind us.

More positively, Nicola Sturgeon didn’t respond to the spike in Covid infections by pressing the ‘nuclear’ button of a second national lockdown. Unfortunately, that was as rosy as it got.

Back in March, the Mail agreed with Boris Johnson and Miss Sturgeon for forcing the entire country to jettison their freedoms.

Given we knew so little about the virus, a belt and braces approach seemed wise.

We recognise governments on both sides of the Border face a devilishly difficult task. But people will be wondering if this new crackdown is a grotesque overreaction. There are very few deaths – and hospitalisations are a tiny fraction compared to the peak. Yes, there has been an uptick in cases, but that is fuelled by the young, who shrug off the contagion.

Ministers fret that Millennials will infect the elderly and vulnerable.

But those citizens are perfectly capable of assessing the risk. Instead, the curbs highlight the incoherence of the Government’s Covid strategy.

Miss Sturgeon’s hyper-caution is understandable – but counter-productive.

Successful businesses wither before our eyes and hundreds of thousands of workers are tossed onto the dole.

Mass unemployment kills just as surely as the virus and patients die because they can’t access NHS treatment.

The country cannot stay trapped in a vicious cycle of lockdowns until a cure is found. That may never happen.

So the First Minister must lose her timidity, and set Scotland striding firmly back on the footpath to normality.