Covid impacts extend far beyond health

From Monday, Dundee – a city at the beating heart of a major regional economy serving more than 500,000 people – will effectively become a Covid island.

Placed into Tier 3 – the highest restriction level to be invoked anywhere in Scotland – the city will stand alone, surrounded by three local authorities which have all been adjudged to be in the lower Tier 2.

In practicality, that single level makes a significant difference.

Firstly, Dundonians will have to get used to a new world in which personal freedoms are fewer than they are now. For example, a pint of beer or glass of wine in the pub, or even with a meal in a restaurant, will be completely off limits.

But perhaps more significant the ban on non-essential travel and from the city.

It is a measure designed to protect the populace by stopping the virus from spreading into new areas.

While it may be necessary to reduce Covid’s deadly work, there are other secondary impacts that should not be overlooked.

In economic circles, it is often said that when America sneezes, the world catches a cold.

In microcosm, that also holds for Dundee and the wider city region.

The inevitable result of fewer people travelling into the city for work or for leisure is less money circulating not just in the city itself but in the wider economy.

And that means yet more stress piled on an already struggling business community.

While there is some support and financial help at hand, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is clear the aid available is not at the level she would wish it to be.

That the new restrictions are being imposed just as the UK Government’s furlough scheme is replaced by a less generous job support programme is a double whammy from which some businesses may never recover.

There is no argument that saving lives and minimising the healthcare impacts of Covid must be the priority right now.

But we cannot afford as a society to lose focus of the wider picture.

Our actions in the weeks ahead will be key in driving down infection rates and minimising the myriad impacts of this pandemic.

We must do all that we can. is to