Who could do better than Nicola Sturgeon on Covid? – Helen Martin

Critics of the Scottish Government’s handling of the Nike conference coronavirus outbreak should consider what was known about the disease at the time, writes Helen Martin.

Nicola Sturgeon has coped as well as could be expected during the coronavirus crisis (Jane Barlow/PA Wire)

AS Nicola Sturgeon says several times, “hindsight” is a crucial aspect of what’s happened during coronavirus.

The initial mystery of what it was, how it works, what are its symptoms, how many would catch it, how we could cope, how it could be confined, how long would it last, how many waves we should expect, will we find a vaccine etc etc, was like wearing a blindfold to get out of a maze.

The obsession with the Nike conference procedure goes on, though there were no certainties of anything back in February when it all started in Scotland. The other accusation is about the recovered elderly going back to care homes, because hospital and ICU admissions could soar.

She’s been applauded by WHO and other countries on how she’s handled it. And every government has made mistaken decisions based on what they knew at the time, rather than what would be discovered in future.

She’s also accepted that everything will have to be analysed once this is under complete control so we can learn from the past. She is not claiming to have been a perfect know-it-all but she and the Scottish Government have done their best.

The truth is, we still don’t know if there’s another wave, if it returns in winter, if infections rise again soon and we need another lockdown.

Who would want to be the person dealing with this for Scotland? Who thinks they could have done better? And who has the right to complain?

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