Pandemic leads to rise in betting

Most sports gamblers reduced their bets during the first coronavirus lockdown but a third gambled more frequently, according to new research.

Academics found one in six began a new form of gambling during the lockdown.

Researchers from Glasgow and Stirling universities surveyed 3866 gamblers online about their bets prior to and in March to June last year, when sport was suspended and bookmakers closed.

They found the majority of regular sports bettors cut down on gambling, with around one third - 29.8 per cent of men and 33.4 per cent of women - stopping completely.

However, 17.3 per cent of men and 16.5 per cent of women started a new form of gambling, while 31.3 per cent of men and 30.3 per cent of women gambled more often on at least one activity.

Around 5,000 fewer nonurgent operations took place in January compared to the previous month in Scotland, reaching the lowest level since July as the second wave of Covid-19 took hold.

Some 11,830 planned operations took place in January, 5,000 fewer than the previous month and a 60 per cent drop on those in January 2020.

A wave of cancellations began in mid-january as Covid-19 cases rose, with several health boards, including NHS Ayrshire and Arran and NHS Lanarkshire, issuing blanket postponement of all non-urgent operations and procedures, and others making cancellations on a case by case basis.

The number of operations taking place was cut to 3,500 in April during the first lockdown but had risen to around 17,000 per month in September to December, before the second wave.

Alex Cole-hamilton, Liberal Democrat health spokesperson, warned 170,000 operations were lost to the pandemic – the number of operations which took place between March and December 2020 compared to the year before.

"These statistics show the grim reality we live in,” he said. "Despite the best efforts of our NHS heroes, Covid-19 has prevented many procedures from being carried out.

"People are in pain, friends and families feel powerless, while the NHS backlog continues to grow, and more people continue to suffer while stuck on a seemingly endless waiting list.”