The Covid pandemic has dominated our lives for two years. We’ve experienced months of harsh restrictions, gone through phase after phase of this virus, and rolled out one of the most successful vaccine programmes in the world.
Yet as we approach the second anniversary of the first Covid lockdown, the Scottish Government’s approach to managing this virus has become no more sophisticated. Blanket restrictions are still the default response to living with this virus – but they are starting to do more harm than good.
Businesses and the Scottish public are crying out for a return to normality – and we believe their calls must be heeded.
We have published a Covid recovery roadmap, setting out several concrete steps to get Scotland back to normal.
With the latest data indicating that the most dangerous phase of the pandemic is at an end, we are calling for blanket Covid measures – such as mandatory face masks in classrooms and vaccine passports – to be gradually dropped.
Instead, we want to see a greater focus on personal responsibility with a two-tiered approach that protects vulnerable groups, while allowing society to rebuild.
Today we have published our Covid recovery roadmap – Back to Normality.
With the virus retreating, it's time to progressively remove restrictions, get back to normality and rebuild Scotland.
Read more here👇https://t.co/WS7ihCurPF pic.twitter.com/MkmrOGTxCp
— Scottish Conservatives (@ScotTories) February 8, 2022
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We are also urging the SNP to adopt several key recommendations to support Scotland’s longer-term recovery from the virus, including:
- Continuing to reduce the self-isolation period
- Publishing an interim report of the Scottish Covid public inquiry as soon as possible, to help us learn the lessons of Covid and inform our recovery
- Establishing a network of long Covid clinics to treat patients with chronic conditions
- Ending the staffing crisis in our NHS so that it is better prepared for future healthcare emergencies
- Investing in a national tutoring programme and school catch-up premium, to help children impacted by disrupted schooling
It is time to move Scotland as close to normality as possible for as many people as possible. That is the only way that we can recover fully from this pandemic.
