Should Scotland go under a national lockdown? Our readers share their views

Should there be another national lockdown in Scotland? (Photo by Scott Louden)

It comes after Boris Johnson announced a four week lockdown in England, starting this Thursday (November 5).

A post on our social media page gathered more than 500 comments, with the opinion split on whether or not restrictions should be put in place.

“If that's what it takes to make people abide by all the rules then so be it,” said Mary Millar, “We all need to think of others first and in effect do as we are told and then we just might come out the other side and regain some sort of a normal life thereafter. Common sense has to prevail.”

And Stevie Laing said: “If England's in lockdown then it makes sense for all of Britain to go into lockdown and use furlough while we are indoors.”

Some thought we should have a lockdown now to save Christmas. Ilona Turner said: “Do it now so Christmas isn’t spent in lockdown! It’s inevitable that it’ll happen so just get it over with.”

‘People should be allowed to live their lives’

But others took a different view on whether to lockdown. Kirsty Desson said: “No way! We have been living with much tighter restrictions than those in England for a much longer period of time. There are pockets of high infection but many areas of the country are containing the virus well. People in these areas should be allowed to earn a living, support their families, get treatment for cancer and other illnesses, live their lives.”

Carol Webster agreed with this. She said: “Keep up the good work being safe - wearing masks and sanitising our hands also keeping socially distant - moving slowly forward to save the economy and our mental health.”

Also concerned about mental health was Claire Hannah. She said: "No, schools to stay open. The impact on mental health is the biggest killer. Keep schools open and people can work. Not everyone is getting help financially from the government. Lockdowns are short term fix, rates will shoot up again. Ride it out until Christmas and hopefully will see a drop in numbers then.”

Marie-Claire Rackham-Mann said Scotland should only have a full lockdown if the Government’s scientific advisers SAGE recommend it. She wrote: “ If not, then only areas where the infection is spreading quickly. Individuals from those areas ought to be quarantined to their homes (or hospital, if necessary) until they are free from the virus.

While Murray MacDonald shared concerns about another lockdown’s impact on the economy. He said: “You do another national lockdown you will destroy the economy especially hospitality. The government seriously need a long term plan for this, a vaccine maybe nearly ready but it will take months or indeed maybe a couple of years to roll out for absolutely everyone. We seriously cannot go on like this forever.”

‘I’d rather my family was healthy’

Others believe the first lockdown should have been longer. Barbara Jack said: “I think we should have stayed in the original lockdown for one more month. We were used to it and now will be harder to accept. Like others have said, if the situation warrants it, so be it. I'd rather my family was poor and healthy than like that poor soul we saw struggling for breath today.”

Craig Gordon said he believes Scotland should have closed the border, with anyone coming into the country being required to quarantine for two weeks. He said: “Simple really. You would have at least had this virus under control by now.”

While there were some ‘yes’ responses, a lot of people simply wrote ‘no’ to our question on whether Scotland should go into a national lockdown.

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