Covid Scotland - your views online

Six cases of Omicron variant identified in Scotland

A medical worker prepares a BioNtech-Pfizer Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine at a colisium in Makati City, suburban Manila on November 29, 2021, as the Southeast Asian nation launched a three-day vaccination drive targeting nine million people as young as 12 in an effort to accelerate the roll-out of jabs, amidst the threat of heavily mutated coronavirus variant Omicron. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP) (Photo by TED ALJIBE/AFP via Getty Images)

Jacqueline Carpenter

Viruses mutate - it’s what they do, it’s how they become immune to the various medications we throw at them! There will always be ‘new variants’ of it! However, the doctor in South Africa who discovered it said the symptoms are milder than previously so let’s not get our knickers in a twist about it!

Donald J Makin

Bit like when Covid started and we had cases in Edinburgh in December but no one told us...

Mags Smith

Bit over this now. Wonder how long it’ll be before another lockdown. January maybe, once all the Xmas markets close and the money has come in?

Jimmy Burnett

We have, so far, nine cases in the UK, most but not all arrived recently by plane from South African countries. That entry point has now been closed. So far the people with the variant are experiencing mild symptoms and are being monitored. Who knows where this will go, but now is not the time for panic and over responding. Hospital admissions continue to fall significantly; deaths down, both by 90 per cent since January. ICU numbers down. The vaccines have been doing their job.

Gordon Smith

Down to number of delegates in the country for COP20. With a bit of luck the already vaccine rollout will help keep symptoms to a minimum.

Derek Patterson

It's hardly surprising; we were the host country of COP 26 which closed just a couple of weeks ago. Will the political classes never learn?

Dawn Mclean

Of those infected, there is no evidence of serious illness at the moment.

Cairney Steven

If the masks do catch Covid and stop it spreading, why isn't there bio hazard bins for the discarded mask being left everywhere and why, if that's the case, are our governments and councils not demanding fines for people throwing away these covid filled pieces of death?

Jackie Brownlee

I knew it wouldn’t be long before we got it up here. Common sense says lockdown everywhere in this island as soon as Westminster is aware of it, but no, they allow it in then blame the public if it spreads.

Gillian MacRae

Yet the government cancelled the contract for Valneva (French owned). Their vaccine was designed to cover all strains.

Marlana Bedrick

Even the doctor that found this variant stated the symptoms are more mild and flu like.

Andrew Naismith

So quickly altered means that those who have been vaccinated need to be redone. And how will it work with the vaccine passport?

Taylor Callaway

South African doctor says that there has not been a single hospital admission with this variant, and that the UK are "overreacting."

Sandra Donnan

Be realistic, why would it be made up? Really these conspiracy folks need locked up.

Strange catch

Shock for Scottish fisher James Pearson who pulled a WW2 rifle from the Union Canal in Edinburgh

Steve Dunleavy

Catching a bit of history. It should have been sent to a war museum.

Mags Smith

I don’t understand why these get destroyed. They should be cleaned up, de-activated and given to a museum. That’s a quality bit of history and it’s such a shame just to bin it basically.

Shaun Sibthorp

Shame the police took it away and destroyed it. Should have made it safe then given it to a museum.

Karl Sprague

It was a US M1 Garand used through WW2 and the Korean conflict.

Sean Cockburn

That's literally one of the things they look for. You see guns come out a lot.

Hal Hardin

An American M1 Garand. I would love to own one some day but they are pretty expensive.

Pat Lodge

Who put it there I wonder?

Tim Shields

Nice find. It could have been deactivated.

Storm Arwen

John Muir country park in Dunbar completely devastated

Steve Bell

It's absolutely devastating i was expecting a few trees but the whole forest has been taken out. Once all the trees are removed it won't be the same. A lot of old people walking around were very sad.