We must take action now to save local lives

I hate this damn Covid-19 virus. It is killing people and trying to contain it has restricted much of the personal freedoms we took for granted.

I know I am finding it tough and I am sure you are too.

Our generation has had the misfortune to have live through a pandemic.

Past generations have also had to deal with huge life-threatening challenges.

But, there is one certainty that gives me great hope for the future. Just like them, we will get through this and life will settle into a much brighter new normal.

Last week around the world, about 6000 people died each day from Covid-19.

We have seen France, Germany and now most recently England enter new national lockdowns. And more restrictions have been introduced to areas across Scotland, including the Stirling area.

Last week, the Scottish Government announced that Stirling would be under Level 3 restrictions. Stirling’s rate of infection at the time of the announcement was below the 100 cases per 100,000. However, the difference was very slight at 96 cases per 100,000 people.

Indeed, the Scottish Government published its decision-making processes for each local authority area. On considering Stirling for the lower Level 2 restrictions, it said:

“Serious consideration was given to allocating Stirling to Level 2. At this stage there is insufficient evidence of a sustained reduction in trends against the indicators to fully merit this. In relation to NHS Forth Valley, it is forecast that demand will exceed capacity within six weeks for hospital beds and within five weeks for ICU beds. There is also a significant risk of importation of cases from surrounding areas.”

This highlights the serious situation we potentially faced if early and decisive action was not taken. In this light I support the Scottish Government’s cautious approach because saving lives must be the primary objective. But I also know how much damage this will be doing to the economy and people’s general wellbeing. I therefore I sincerely hope that we move to Level 2 and below just as soon as it safe to do so.

It’s worth remembering that these restrictions are in place to do three things: the first and primary reason is to save lives, the second to protect the NHS and thirdly to try and help avoid Scotland having to go into a full national lockdown, as we are seeing in England and with a number of our European neighbours. With the rate of infections increasing that is undoubtedly the direction we were heading without early and decisive measures taken. I sincerely hope Scotland’s more targeted approach is successful.

Over the past few weeks, Alyn Smith MP and I have been communicating with local community groups and businesses across the Stirling area, ahead of the new tiered system being introduced. This was a chance for us to listen to what people have to say about the situation and understand what support and assistance they required. We have been making representations on their behalf both to Central and Local Government.

We also met virtually with a number of amateur football clubs from across the Stirling Council area who put forward a very strong case around operating safely outside. We made representations on their behalf to the Scottish Government.

I hope we can move to Level 2 as soon as it is safe to do so