Cash will help our minority ethnic groups fight virus
A new expert group is to work with the Scottish Government in a bid to provide a clearer picture of the impact on minority ethnic communities of coronavirus in Paisley and across Scotland.
Following indications that minority ethnic communities may face higher risks from the virus, the group is to consider evidence and data being gathered by the Scottish Government, Public Health Scotland, National Records of Scotland and the NHS, and advise on policy actions to deal with any disproportionate effects.
As part of its immediate response to the pandemic, the Scottish Government has provided more than £500,000 to organisations working specifically with minority ethnic communities across Scotland.
Equalities Minister Christina McKelvie said: “The Scottish Government is deeply concerned by reports that suggest people from ethnic minorities have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 both in terms of health and wider social and economic impacts.
“Although the current analysis in Scotland appears to show that there is not a higher level of Covid-19 cases than would be expected, I understand that many people will be anxious about protecting themselves and their families. I want to reassure them that we are taking this issue extremely seriously.”
CARING FOR YOUR PETS
Paisley vet Neil McIntosh, who has 36 years experience of tending to sick and injured animals, shares his views with you.
Today, we hear about some amazing animal companions.
There have been quite a few of them, when I think about it.
I don’t remember the first one, a Poodle, called, predictably, Mitzi. But my older sister does.
Apparently she gave birth under a bed. Mitzi that is, not my sister.
My very first recollection is of Petra, an amiable yellow Labrador; a true
‘Blue Peter’ dog. She wandered off one day, quite out of character, and was run over.
We didn’t find out for days, as the local Police station denied all knowledge, despite her body being handed in there by the car driver.
Then there was
Trudi, an unruly, easily distracted child of a Springer Spaniel who never, ever grew up despite many years of remedial training. Unfortunately, Barbara Woodhouse had not been invented by then. (Google her, if you are too damned young to remember!) They say that Labradors are born half trained and that Spaniels die half trained. She was less than a quarter, when at her peak. There were the two Chihuahuas, of course, that sat habitually on my Mother’s lap, even when she was driving. Kissy and Pooch they were called. Try yelling those names out in the park when you are a selfconscious, adolescent 15-year-old. I needed counselling for years. Kissy and Pooch indeed! And there was Sam, a black Labrador, who was better named but not as well behaved.
I suppose every family has one.
There was a gap then, as I left home for university and subsequently my first job, when I had enough trouble looking after myself never mind a pet. Soon after starting work in Paisley and Greenock, thirty-four years ago, a tiny black and tan, six week old mongrel was brought in to be put to sleep, as she made too much noise. I think the diagnosis was hunger.
She was renamed
Vicky and became my constant companion; by day assuming prime position in the office next to the radiator or sitting comfortably and incredibly patiently on the passenger seat when I was out on farm calls. Never very keen on children, she succumbed to heart disease shortly before my daughter was born. Strange that. I put her to sleep myself. A privilege but very, very hard.
Around the same time, there was Thor, a partly trained police dog, who looked after me and my property when I spent four years living in a leaky caravan while building my house.
He was fearless to all but wee Vicky, who was resolutely the boss.
He survived long enough to help the children learn to walk, being a steady, sure footed, patient, hairy mass they could grab hold of.
And then, as many of you will know, there was Scud, the rescue dog, who became the dog of their childhood.
I put her to sleep myself too, while my daughter held her. Heart-breaking.
They are all the dogs of my life; each lived a different part of it with me. They all influenced me in some way and, in my head and in my heart, none can be replaced. They are not just pets. They are my family history.
I do hope you enjoy remembering yours.