Scottish Ministers, Coronavirus and Passing the Buck
Scottish Ministers are not good at accepting criticism over their handling of the Coronavirus epidemic - they get very tetchy and defensive.
When things go wrong, in Scotland's care homes for example, the general rule is to blame someone else, preferably their counterparts in the UK government who are struggling with the same difficult issues.
But that's politics for you and in the case of university students returning to their studies and halls of residence, I'm afraid it was perfectly predictable that there would be an issue with some ignoring the need to be cautious and observe the rules on social distancing.
Let's hope on this occasion that the Scottish Government takes what is very reasonable criticism on the chin instead of trying to pass the buck elsewhere.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-54292728
Covid-hit university students: 'Why have they sent us here?'
Students caught up in a spate of Covid outbreaks have questioned why university halls were allowed to open.
They have been told not to visit pubs or restaurants this weekend or go home after hundreds of students across Scotland tested positive for the virus.
However, many have called the outbreaks inevitable given students were encouraged back to campus.
The Scottish government said all efforts were focused on stopping further transmission of the virus.
One of the worst affected halls is Glasgow University's Murano Street residences where at least 172 students have tested positive for Covid-19 and hundreds more are self isolating.
Lucy Owens, a student living in the Murano complex and who has coronavirus, questioned why students had been brought back given so much learning had moved online.
She asked on the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "What are we paying for? I could do everything I am doing from my house, so why have they sent us here?
"I know we're making the most of this accommodation because we're stuck in it all day but we're not really making the most of being at university.
"Putting two thousand students into such a confined area, something like this was bound to happen."
- Scottish university students told not to go to pubs
- PPE to pee and running out of food
- University outbreaks 'should have been predicted'
Fellow student Nell Manson said keeping students out of pubs and restaurants was not the answer.
She said: "More things will be happening in accommodations.
"In pubs and restaurants there are lots of social distancing measures, you can't even get up from your table without a mask.
"It lends itself to people socialising in other ways where there's not such strict rules."
GETTY IMAGESTessa Morrison, 17, who is studying politics at Glasgow University, said she has had a positive Covid diagnosis and is living with 10 other people, some of whom also have the virus.
The students all have their own rooms but share two bathrooms and one kitchen.
She said it was "difficult to avoid people" in this setup, adding, "They should have waited until at least Christmas to let us come here, I do think they are just trying to make money off us being in halls and they knew this was inevitably going to happen."
There are currently about 250,000 students in Scotland, with up to 35,000 living in university halls and 10,000 in private halls.
Covid outbreaks have been reported at halls of residence in Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
PA MEDIAHelen Kirkpatrick's daughter is a second year student at Glasgow's Strathclyde University and is staying in private halls.
She said: "After going back there she has found out that all classes will be online for the first semester.
"She's signed an agreement and paid a lot of money to stay there and what for? Now she is essentially imprisoned?
"She could have studied at home - I think the Scottish government could have handled this a lot better."
'It's not stigmatising students'
Universities in Scotland have agreed to introduce a "yellow card, red card" system for breaches of student discipline that put students and others at risk, which could result in an end to their studies.
Higher Education Minister Richard Lochhead said this, and curbs on going to hospitality this weekend, was about trying to stop the virus spreading.
He said: "This is an ask of the student population of Scotland from universities. The Scottish government support that, but the universities are asking the students jointly across Scotland this weekend - given we've got a number of outbreaks of the virus and some campuses across Scotland - to have the weekend off from socialising out-with the households."
"The vast majority of students have been so responsible, it's a very tough time for them."
Mr Lochhead added that "it's not stigmatising students, it's not about saying they're particularly to blame for what's happening."
'Lockdown Lite' vs Covid-19 (24/09/20)
Iain Macwhirter in The Herald notes that Scotland has quietly abandoned its Covid-19 'elimination strategy' which has now been replaced by 'lockdown lite'.
Meanwhile in Glasgow 124 positive cases of Covid-19 were linked to student parties at the start of freshers week with 600 people being identified as 'at risk' in university halls of residence.
Opinion: Iain Macwhirter: No more talk of eliminating coronavirus as Sturgeon imposes lockdown lite
COVID-19 press conference - 21 September 2020. Scottish Government COVID-19 press conference at St. Andrew's House, Edinburgh with the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.
The elimination strategy. Back in June, Nicola Sturgeon adapted her Covid rhetoric to echo Jacinda Ardern's in New Zealand. We can rid Scotland of coronavirus, she said, with track and trace and Scottish self-discipline. “Total elimination” could be only weeks away.
The First Minister's scientific adviser, Professor Devi Sridhar of Edinburgh University, said that Scotland was on the way to defeating the hydra-headed virus. Elimination could be a done deal, she suggested, had it not been for Scotland being inconveniently attached to a certain Conservative-led nation which shall be nameless.
The New Scientist agreed, announcing in a headline that: “Scotland would be Covid-free if it weren't for England”. Nicola Sturgeon ruled out closing the border but said quarantine measures might have to be imposed on cross-border travellers. Masked nationalists in hazmat suits hiked to Berwick to shout at vehicles with English number plates.
That all seems a long time ago. We're back at defcon 4 and the epidemic is supposedly spreading again like wildfire in Scotland. The R number is as high as England's. We're back the same 4-nation Covid boat, without any Caledonian lifeboat.
Covid-19 and The Persuaders (23/09/20)
Scotland 'not far away' from eliminating coronavirus
26 June 2020
Image caption - Reuters The first minister wore a face mask during a visit to a shop in Edinburgh ahead of its reopening on Monday
Scotland is "not far away" from eliminating coronavirus, the country's first minister has predicted.
Nicola Sturgeon was speaking as she announced there have been no deaths from confirmed cases of the virus in the past 24 hours.
This was the first time the figure had been zero on a weekday since 20 March.
Ms Sturgeon said the statistic was "really significant" and a further sign of the progress that has been made.
But she again warned against complacency because the virus "has not yet gone away" and is "on the rise again" in some other countries.
Coronavirus in Scotland - latest updates
Police clear large crowds from city park
Which lockdown rules will change next - and when?
Ms Sturgeon said: "Suppressing the virus, driving it as far as we can towards total elimination, has to be our overriding priority.
"We have made exceptional progress over the past three months, and the figures today highlight that.
"But it has only been possible because the vast majority of us have stuck to the rules."
The first minister stressed that elimination was different from eradication, and was about "getting it to the lowest possible levels we can in a country".
She added: "It doesn't mean it has gone away, it doesn't mean it won't rise again if we stop doing the things we need to do, but it gives us more confidence that we can keep it under control.
"I think we are not that far away from that. The challenge is keeping it there."
Reuters Image - Many shops and visitor attractions are preparing to reopen in the coming weeks including Blair Drummond Safari Park near Stirling
The number of cases of coronavirus in Scotland has fallen dramatically in recent weeks, with the number of people testing positive in single figures on some days.
There are currently only 17 coronavirus patients in the country's intensive care units.
And Ms Sturgeon said the percentage of people who tested positive for the virus was now well below 1% - and was just 0.3% on Thursday.
But with the country's three-month lockdown due to be eased significantly over the coming weeks, she urged people not to become complacent of the threat caused by the virus which has been linked to the deaths of more than 4,100 people in Scotland.
What will reopen in Scotland and when?
29 June - Most non-essential shops, many indoor workplaces, visitor attractions including zoos, outdoor sports courts and playgrounds
3 July - Five mile travel distance relaxed, most self-catering holiday homes and second homes can be used
6 July - Outdoor hospitality such as beer gardens can reopen
10 July - People can meet in extended groups outdoors and with two other households indoors
13 July - Shopping centres can reopen, organised outdoor contact sports for children can resume, dentists can reopen for most routine care
15 July - Pubs, restaurants and all holiday accommodation can reopen, as can hairdressers, barbers, museums, cinemas, libraries and childcare
Ms Sturgeon pointed to a resurgence in cases in countries that are coming out of lockdown, such as Germany and the US, as a warning sign that "we ignore at our peril".
She added: "The virus has not gone away, and it will not go away of its own accord.
"A big concern for me is that, as we ease more restrictions, people drop their guard - it is perhaps human nature.
"And of course, the potential for that increases as people are out and about and seeing each other much more."
Police dispersed large groups of people from Kelvingrove Park as Scotland enjoyed the warmest day of the year so far on Thursday, while there were also big crowds at the Meadows in Edinburgh.
Ms Sturgeon said she understood people wanting to enjoy the sunshine, but she urged them to do so sensibly by avoiding crowded places and trying to find somewhere quieter.
Politicians and Coronavirus (19/09/20)
Yet politicians across the UK are now rushing to tell us that because they have failed to persuade fellow citizens to behave responsibly they have no choice but to impose even more rules which prevent people from seeing their families and friends.
Everyone from Boris Johnson to the Mayor of London to the first ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be saying essentially the same thing, no doubt while also suggesting that something or someone else is to blame.
Yet what it boils down to is a failure of our politicians to unite behind an agreed strategy which is capable of changing people's behaviour.
Follow My Leader ((10/09/90)
The Scottish Government seems likely to follow the lead of the UK Government later today by announcing further restrictions on people's lives to help reduce the spread of Covid-19.
According to leaked press reports Scotland will reduce the numbers of people who can meet to just 6 individuals - both indoors and outdoors.
The present 'rules' are driven by the science allegedly, there is no doubt that politicians revel in having small differences in their own back yards - at a time when it would be better if we were all singing from the same hymn sheet.
Politicians and Coronavirus (09/09/20)
Glasgow councillors were back in the news again after the Daily Record broke a story about Council leader, Cllr Susan Aitken, enjoying a drink in a Merchant City pub with three colleagues.
