Covid restrictions are crushing our economy. Do the stats really justify that? – John McLellan

Increasing infection rates, new Covid strains, pubs still shut, restaurants going to the wall, dire warnings of mass human extinction if you share a turkey leg with your nearest and dearest next week; despite the wave of optimism after the vaccine announcements, suddenly things seem as bleak as ever.

The Covid lockdowns have hit pubs and restaurants particularly hard (Picture: Lisa Ferguson)

Infections in Edinburgh have “shot up” to just over 100 per 100,000 of the population, so the First Minister’s decision to keep the city in tier three has been vindicated, or so it seems.

Reversing the statistics, it means approximately 520,000 Edinburgh residents don’t have the virus and Public Health Scotland’s district-by-district data puts what sounds like increasing national panic into context.

Broomhouse is one of two Edinburgh Covid hotspots, with 16 cases in the past seven days which converts into what looks like a frightening rise in infections to 400 per 100,000.

But across the railway in Corstorphine and Balgreen there are no cases at all. Northfield/Piershill also has 16 cases and a 400/100,000 infection rate, but with full suppression in Restalrig, Dumbiedykes, and Prestonfield.

There are still fewer coronavirus patients in NHS Lothian hospitals than at the end of October and only six in intensive care, but what is actually a relatively small number of actual cases is being magnified to justify the continued crushing of the economy and suppression of hope.

Vaccinated or not, at some point soon we are going to have to live with the virus or look forward to prosperity levels more in common with North Korea.

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