Covid-19 coronavirus testing: We need an adult conversation on why there are so few in Scotland – Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson has some questions for Nicola Sturgeon as part of her 'grown-up conversation' about Covid-19 (Picture: Fraser Bremner - Pool/Getty Images)

Large-scale testing people for Covid-9 coronavirus has been a successful strategy in other countries, writes Brian Wilson

One of the cleverer songs circulating on social media includes the line: “I hope Boris Johnson recovers completely, so we can call him a d******* again.”

Fair enough. However, the Sunday Times did not observe that courtesy and put the boot in hard with alleged insights into errors and confusion in the Government’s handling of Covid-19 in February and March.

It consisted largely of unattributed quotes which experience has taught me to associate with grinding axes. One observer suggested: “The only thing it gives us insight into is hindsight.”

I tend to agree. There will be plenty time for inquiries and much to inquire into. But is this the time for finger-pointing – unless it serves the urgent purpose of highlighting failings which demand to be addressed?

In a paper which is equally critical of Whitehall and Edinburgh governments for delays in responding, Scottish academics Professor Allyson Pollock and Dr Louisa Harding-Edgar say that big events should have been banned much earlier. They are probably right.

In conscience, I confess that my own last public outings were to Celtic Park and Murrrayfield on March 8 and 9 respectively. There was no public mood at that time that these events should be cancelled. So can we really blame politicians for not acting?

The impressive Pollock/Harding-Edgar paper also says there should have been far more testing and tracing in parts of the UK, including Scotland, before the virus hit, with powers devolved to local authorities and health agencies.