The success of Scotland’s efforts to tackle Covid is plain to see.
Our vaccine programme and lockdown sacrifices have saved countless lives and given hope the virus can be controlled.
It doesn’t bear thinking about where the country would now be without these measures.
But as the threat of widespread loss of life recedes, the Scottish Government needs to start thinking about prioritising normal life again.
Vaccination passports – requiring people to prove they are jabbed – were vital in encouraging the take-up. They also played a key role in allowing key parts of the economy to safely reopen.
But opposition politicians are right to question if they are still necessary.
The Scottish Government is expected to reveal its new Covid framework this week – dubbed the new normal.
Ditching vaccine passports should be on the list. Anyone who has attended a large event in recent months will already know that enforcement is non-existent in many places.
Businesses hated the scheme from the start, arguing that it caused massive problems for staff and customers.
SNP and Green ministers must now see sense and realise the justification for their continued use is no longer there.
The vast majority of people were convinced that vaccination programmes and lockdowns worked and were happy to go along with them as a result.
But there has to be a clear purpose behind any remaining restrictions.
Trust between the public and the government – and compliance with any future lockdowns – depends on liberties being restored as soon as possible.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, by most people’s reckoning, has acted in good faith throughout the pandemic.
She must continue that fair-minded approach as the crisis recedes.
Ice work, ladies
Praise for Team GB’s gold medal winning women’s curling team has come from all quarters.
The squad captained by Eve Muirhead were even congratulated by the Queen from her Covid sickbed.
Those who stayed up late enough to watch the match were rewarded with an incredible performance.
Curling is among Scotland’s many inventions so it’s great to see a team of Scots do well on the world stage and good for a sport too often ignored outside the Winter Olympics.
The heroics of Muirhead and her teammates – and the men’s team who won silver – will hopefully encourage a new generation to take up the sport.
It’s been 20 years since the last UK curling team won Olympic gold – let’s hope we don’t have that long to
wait again.
