After 15 months of repeated lockdowns, many of us understandably feel frazzled.
The closure of schools, shops, pubs, and offices upended normal life and left us all stuck in the house in the depths of winter, and the lack of face-to-face contact with friends and family was exceptionally difficult and an experience no one would want to repeat.
Many people had to put life events on hold, or arrange them in reduced circumstances – weddings rearranged, funerals with only a handful of mourners allowed.
It’s worth repeating that we are now in a much stronger place, thanks to our collective efforts and the miracle of the vaccination programme.
It won’t be long until almost all adults in Scotland are double vaccinated – a proven defence against serious illness caused by Covid.
Things are getting better. Life is slowly returning to normal.
But the impact of Covid goes well beyond illness and hospitalisation.
We must now deal with the incredibly far-reaching consequences of the decision to suspend the economy.
The harsh fact is many companies will never resume trading as a result.
The temporary closure of schools had a devastating impact on many pupils.
As we report today, many teenagers came under intolerable pressure with this year’s exams fiasco.They were told they would not need to sit normal exams – only to face classroom assessments that were every bit as stressful.
Pupils were also aggrieved that there was no grounds for appeal if they had been off school self-isolating.
And the shambles followed last year’s exams debacle when exam results were graded down irrespective of personal performance if schools historically had not performed well.
Local authorities are responsible for the vast majority of Scotland’s schools.But at a time when we need more money spent on classrooms, councils are skint.
Figures released today show the majority of local authorities are planning to make massive savings over the next year.
Schools, bin collections, and social care are all protected by law and can’t be cut. But things deemed non-essential – such as libraries and leisure centres– can be.
A lot of tough decisions must be made.
We need to get the timing of our reopening from lockdown right and ignore the heat and noise around so-called Freedom Day. We can’t afford to repeat past mistakes.
If that means wearing face masks for a while longer, so be it.
We have bigger issues to contend with right now.
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