In Scotland, it’s clear that Sturgeon and her government have their minds set on eliminating the virus and genuinely believe this is the correct approach to take, however I have multiple concerns with the approach being taken here:
- Given that England is not following an elimination approach, I would argue it’s almost impossible to eliminate the virus here without closing the border (which is completely unfeasible). Does this mean that we’re going to constantly be facing local lockdowns for as little as 5-10 cases whenever someone with England comes up to Scotland? This is not at all sustainable or practical.
- We have no formal exit strategy. Once the virus is eliminated, I think it’s clear that the restrictions will likely be kept for a while to prevent any cases appearing and spreading. What is the criteria for lifting these restrictions in the long term? We seem very hellbent on eliminating the virus but I don’t see this is a way out of the crisis, simply a way of prolonging the restrictions.
- How are we going to initiate a positive, sustainable economic recovery when these restrictions are going to keep on going until the virus is eliminated? (which I’m convinced is impossible for as long as England isn’t doing the same).
I just don’t see this is a sustainable method of dealing with this, Scotland alone cannot and will never be able to eliminate the virus, and Sturgeon has stated that she does not feel she can lift restrictions until this is done, how long is it going to take for her to change her stance and, if she does not, how are we going to prevent irreparable economic damage from being done?