A little good news on the pandemic front as we head into Spring - Scotsman editorial comment

There has been some welcome news on the pandemic front, with weekly cases decreasing by a third in Scotland.

Cases of coronavirus have dropped by a third in Scotland - but caution will still be required to keep ahead of the disease. PIC: Lisa Ferguson.

The news may come as a surprise to many, given it can sometimes feel that most people around us are either catching - or recovering – from the virus.

In the week ending on April 3, there were 48,199 cases of Covid-19 detected by PCR or later flow devices – a 32.9 per cent drop on the week before.

The figures from Public Health Scotland offer some relief in what has been a difficult run for large numbers of us.

This latest set of data perhaps offer a brighter picture as we move forward into Spring, and restrictions on our everyday lives are loosened one-by-one.

But as always, we must try a stay ahead of this disease if we want a healthy – and largely liberated – summer.

There is no escaping the fact that infection rates continue to soar around the world, with China reporting it highest numbers since the pandemic was first unleashed there just over two years ago. What happens elsewhere always has a say in how the virus is likely to behave closer to home.

Meanwhile, hospitalisations in Scotland continue to climb – despite the drop in infections – given case rates among the older population, who have no natural immunity to the virus. The highest number of new admissions are aged 80 and over.

Hospitals – and business, also – often struggle to function given staff sickness levels.

While the latest figures can be read as good news, Covid, as always, demands of us that we must still take good care.

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