Scotland should experiment with different approaches to tackle Covid crisis

In any functioning democracy, the revelation that 2,000 deaths were caused by inaction at the top would see ministers getting the chop and the whole government experiencing that ‘timber’ sensation.

The dogs in the street knew back in January that something serious was afoot in China. Our political class wasn’t stirred by those known risks; they displayed all the situational awareness of Gulliver as he lay tied up on Lilliput beach.

When we should have been locking down the only warning sign raised by Nicola Sturgeon’s sleepy government was ‘Do Not Disturb’.

Not for Scotland the more enlightened approaches taken by small nations like Denmark and New Zealand, who did the groundwork, took testing seriously and had their data analytics in order.

The lessons from successful countries aren’t directly applicable to our sorry circumstances. Before claiming to ‘follow the science’ we should actually do some by experimenting. The smart way towards opening up our economy again safely is by taking small, calculated risks.

Want to know the impact of opening a secondary/primary school? Open them in just one Scottish city. Want to know if public transport is safe? Make it free in another. Want to understand the impact that masks really have? Provide a million to the people of Inverclyde.

Instead of guessing with junk models we should be testing in the spirit of scurvy treatment pioneer Dr James Lind. Scotland

should be conducting clinical trials en masse, with different areas trying different approaches. Each trial should be undertaken with comprehensive testing to measure outcomes and provide circuit breaks. The collective knowledge gained should then direct the Scotland wide policy.

Rather than follow in the footsteps of Boris Johnson, Scotland should be trying to get ahead of the virus. Simply shouting ‘Stay at home’, after 50 long days, is just convenient cover for those who failed to speak up early enough. The confidence to advance under fire from this virus needs a leader with an appreciation of risk management and a clear sense of direction.

CALUM MILLER Polwarth Terrace Prestonpans, East Lothian