Worrying catalogue of Covid-19 failures

Today marks day 56 of lockdown. Many will have lost count but most are starting to feel the strain. That is why it is essential that ministers can now show they are making progress.

So far it looks thin on the ground in Scotland. of course, the stellar efforts of the NHS and all the selfless key workers cannot be underestimated. But there are undoubtedly questions over the efficacy of the leadership offered by those at the top of government.

Two weeks after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Health Secretary Jeane Freeman unveiled their plan to recruit 2,000 contact-tracers, not one of those vacancies has been filled. The ever-shifting guidance on care homes says testing staff in facilities without an outbreak is ‘not a priority’. Fresh recommendations from Public Health Scotland advise that care home workers who test positive for Covid19 can finish their shift before going home to self-isolate. We are now one week on from the revelation of an outbreak in Edinburgh at the end of February. The disclosure came not from a ministerial statement but from a BBC exposé, because the Scottish Government decided we had no right to know about a deadly virus stalking the streets of the capital.

yesterday, the Scottish Mail on Sunday told the stories of companies that believe their staff contracted coronavirus via the Edinburgh outbreak. These businesses want answers and so does the general public.

When will the promised slate of contacttracers be on the job? When will the Scottish Government adopt a 100 per cent testing policy for care home staff and residents? Why, if health officials apprised them of an outbreak on March 2, did ministers wait until March 16 to forbid large gatherings and March 23 to enact a lockdown?

The SNP has not been slow to question the UK Government’s handling of this crisis. It’s high time they provided some answers of their own.