IN SCOTLAND we have now entered the campaign for the Scottish Parliament elections on May 6. There are many critical issues facing the nation following more than a year since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has resulted in the deaths of 150,000 people across Britain.

In total, there have been over 9,000 coronavirus-linked deaths registered in Scotland. So many lives have been lost and others turned upside down by this horrible silent killer.

As the vaccination programme is being rolled out and restrictions are beginning to ease, there is growing light in what has often been a very dark tunnel.

Throughout this period, we have seen workers literally putting their lives on the line from our NHS workers to those providing essential services in local government to those in our energy sector and our supermarkets. Workers have kept our country functioning and running providing some semblance of what was the previous “normal.”

In Scotland, much like the rest of Britain, the initial spread of Covid-19 showed high concentrations in care homes, which is precisely why they have been targeted for the initial phases of the vaccination programme.