Things have changed a lot in recent weeks and one of the biggest shifts is that we can now visit theatres, festivals, night clubs and sporting events. There are no legal requirements for distancing in these types of venues for the first time since last spring.
BEFORE March 2020, part of my day job involved conducting research on some of the risk factors that can cause chronic conditions like cancer, heart disease, respiratory diseases and diabetes. Trying to find better ways to help people stop smoking, improve their diet and activity levels or reduce the harm caused to individuals and families by alcohol.
EARLIER this week, I joined an early morning radio discussion that featured a listener who had recently travelled to Portugal. She’d shared plans for her trip with friends and colleagues and had received some criticism for travelling at the current time. This prompted me to reflect on an issue that has kept cropping up over the last 18 months – how choices we used to take for granted are now scrutinised by others.
Something slightly surprising has been happening across Scotland in recent weeks. At the same time as public health measures are eased, as set out in the Scottish government’s strategic framework, the number of people testing positive for Covid-19 has started to fall.
I took a train to Salford this week for work. Amidst the skirmish about different guidelines on face coverings between Scotland and England, I was interested to see whether there were different behaviours north and south of the border among passengers on the train.
IF I had to write a list of the things that have caused the most harm during this pandemic, the general public being required by law to wear face coverings in indoors spaces like shops and buses wouldn’t be one of them, but the decision by the UK government to make this voluntary from Monday has been controversial.
IF YOU are still following the daily Covid-19 statistics you’d be forgiven for feeling a sense of alarm as Scotland’s third wave of infection continues to rise. The number of positive cases being recorded now is higher than it has ever been at any point in the pandemic.
Tomorrow marks the start of this year’s Edinburgh Science Festival, an annual event held since 1989 and the UK’s largest.
LIKE lots of workplaces, universities welcome secondary school pupils for work experience, and every year I have one or two who join our research team to learn about what we do. Recently this hasn’t been possible due to Covid-19 regulations. Even workplaces that have remained open throughout the pandemic have been less able to accommodate placements. Tens of thousands of school pupils in Scotland have either missed out on work experience or had to do it online.
I WROTE about Covid-19 vaccines for teenagers in Scotland last week in this column and asked when they might be approved. Well, we now have confirmation from the UK medicine’s regulator that they have endorsed trial results for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and that it is safe and effective for young people aged 12-15.
