The figures are still frightening, for the public, politicians and health care experts, but it looks like we could be pulling out of the worst pandemic to hit the world in a century.
The cost, in terms of human life, on the education and mental health of young people, and on the economy has been incredible.
The consequences will be felt for years but we have made it this far and as we emerge back into work and schools and social settings we can raise our eyes beyond the immediate horizon once again.
There was much in Nicola Sturgeon’s programme for government that sought to look over that horizon.
Eye-catching measures such as pardoning the striking miners may be part of the SNP strategy to wear Labour’s old clothes but this is a matter of simple justice.
Similarly the consultation on the “not proven verdict” should be short and sweet. That “b*****d verdict” as Walter Scott called it, has no part in modern Scotland.
When the tide went out in Covid lockdown, it revealed just how barren and battered our public services are and our health and social care in particular.
It is right that the restoration and reform of public services is central to Scotland’s programme of recovery.
Plans for a National Care Service, combining the best of the NHS with the care service of councils, is a long-held and ambitious proposal.
The idea makes sense in theory but where it has been tried out the plan has run into a quagmire of bureaucracy.
Delivery will be key and this government’s track record on delivering on its promises leaves a lot to be desired.
Education, ferries, waiting lists in hospitals, mental health care for children and adults … these are all areas where they have come up short.
The SNP leader’s desire for a second independence referendum is understandable, and Sturgeon’s mandate to pursue it is cemented by the Green coalition in Holyrood.
But her task in persuading a large portion of a sceptical electorate on the merits of Scotland going it alone is a big one.
Having steered the country through the dark days of Covid as a trusted figure, Nicola Sturgeon has earned the opportunity to shape the future.
To come anywhere close to winning the argument, the First Minister must deliver on the domestic agenda spelled out yesterday.
