Covid cannot be politicised – Angus Robertson

Travel trestrictions and border closures are being introduced all over the world in the fight against coronavirus and this strategy should not be undermined by political ideology, writes Angus Robertson.

Lockdown restrictions have returned in Aberdeen (Picture: Michal Wachucik / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

The battle against coronavirus goes on at home and abroad. Outbreaks have been reported in parts of the world which have been most successful in combatting the pandemic.

In New Zealand the country’s general election has been postponed by a month after a cluster of 58 cases were identified in Auckland. After three months without a single locally transmitted case, the authorities are clamping down. Checkpoints are now operating across Auckland’s regional boundaries to ensure only essential travel.

In Australia, a regional outbreak in Melbourne has led to a six-week, stage-four lockdown. The border between Victoria and New South Wales and Queensland has been closed. Travel restrictions have been used between states in the United States, regions on the European continent and in England between Leicester and Leicestershire.

In Scotland, lockdown restrictions have been reimposed in Aberdeen. People have been warned not to travel to the Granite City and those living in the city face travel restrictions.

It is a huge wake-up call. I would rather that there was no need for any lockdown, boundary closures or any restrictions, but decision-makers have to follow the scientific advice. It is not something that should be politicised or weaponised. Yesterday I was sent an article in the Daily Mail on social media and challenged to condemn alleged “xenophobia” by world-leading Edinburgh public health Professor Devi Sridhar, who wrote in the New York Times about the absence of travel restrictions between UK nations.

The last place anyone should take lessons from on xenophobia is the Daily Mail or from people who put their ideology before public health.

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