Confidence in handling of outbreak drops – poll
Public confidence in the Scottish government’s handling of the pandemic has dropped, according to a poll.
A growing number of people are unhappy with ministers’ performance, according to the survey by Yougov.
Although voters’ views on how the crisis has been managed in Scotland is still positive, 42% said ministers have done poorly in limiting the number of deaths, up 13% since the summer and, while 58% of Scottish voters say that Nicola Sturgeon and her ministers have chosen lockdown rules wisely, that is a down 13 points in the same period, according to the poll for The Times.
National Clinical Director Jason Leitch was asked on BBC yesterday what mistakes were made during the year of the pandemic. He said: “Loads of stuff... I’m not sure we fully understood asymptomatic spread of the virus… and therefore how to protect our institutions and our people from that damage.”
Off the Ball presenter Tam Cowan said when he and co-host Stuart Cosgrove first met professor Leitch in the BBC studios at the beginning of the pandemic last March the professor “happily shook both our hands”.
Leitch added: “There is always going to be a day before the restrictions so whatever you do, anybody can look back and say ‘hold on you didn’t say that on Tuesday’, well that’s because restrictions came in on a Wednesday...
“Now there will be arguments and public inquiries, of course, about when stuff happened but there will always be a day before the restrictions.”