IN perhaps the clearest sign yet that we are moving out of the pandemic phase of Covid and into the endemic phase, today the First Minister announced that as of February 28, masks will no longer be required in Scottish classrooms.
An epidemic is when there is an outbreak of a disease or infection that affects many people at one time and can spread through one or several communities. In an epidemic, the disease or infection spreads rapidly to a large number of people in a given population over a short time period, creating waves of infection which can potentially overwhelm the ability of health services to cope. A pandemic is when that epidemic is global in its effects, such as we have seen with Covid.
The endemic phase into which we are now moving is when the disease or infection is permanently present in a region, society or population, usually at an approximately constant level. Covid hasn't gone away, and still poses a risk to health, but that risk is considered manageable and the disease is less likely to overwhelm the health service.
We are now potentially moving into the endemic phase because, thanks largely to widespread vaccinations and also to previous infection, most people in the population have antibodies against Covid in their systems which confer a significant degree of protection and substantially reduce the risk of death or serious illness as a result of getting infected with the virus.
Another important factor is that the omicron variant of the virus which is most widespread is considerably more transmissible than previous variants, giving it a competitive edge over those older variants which have largely been displaced by omicron. However, omicron appears to be less likely to cause death or serious illness among those it infects.
We are not entirely out of the woods yet. Omicron is still causing deaths. My own sister-in-law in Connecticut died of Covid last month after contracting the omicron variant which is spreading like wildfire and causing immense stress on health services in the USA where vaccines and masks are politicised in a way that they are not in Scotland. In the USA there is a far higher number of people who are unvaccinated, and they are making up the bulk of hospital admissions due to Covid.
However, in Scotland, we are starting to see what life post-pandemic will look like. In England, Boris Johnson has announced that self-isolation will soon no longer be required following a positive Covid test. The announcement was criticised by Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf who accused Johnson of making "off-the-cuff" decisions to pander to his anti-lockdown backbenchers in an effort to drum up support for his leadership. The Health Secretary did not rule out lifting restrictions in Scotland sooner than originally planned but asserted that the Scottish Government would do so in a "thoughtful" way which was led by advice from scientific experts.
The one thing that those of us who support Scottish independence are all waiting for is concrete progress towards a second independence referendum. The Scottish Government had previously committed to a referendum by the end of 2023 assuming that we are out of the critical phase of the pandemic. Now that there are clear signs that we are moving out of the pandemic and into an endemic phase of Covid, we can look forward to progress being made in preparations for another independence referendum and work being done to build a cast-iron prospectus for an independent Scotland. In a welcome sign that work is under way, meetings are now taking place between senior SNP figures in order to get prepared for what is being described as a "new phase" of preparations for indyref2.
As we move out of the crisis phase of Covid, preparations for an independence referendum will dominate Scottish politics in the weeks and months ahead. Here's hoping it will help to focus minds and energies, and that the wider independence movement will be able to put the rancour and divisions of the past behind us and move towards our common goal.
This piece is an extract from today’s REAL Scottish Politics newsletter, which is emailed out at 7pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from the Wee Ginger Dug.
To receive our full newsletter including this analysis straight to your email inbox, click here and tick the box for the REAL Scottish Politics
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel