This last weekend will have come as shock to many families across the Highlands who are now having to redesign their Christmas plans. During the last year the old saying ‘expect the unexpected’, has proved to be very apt and in relation to the pandemic, an unwelcome reality.
Last Sunday we as a family came to terms, as did many others across Scotland, that we would not be seeing our children for Christmas, which was a bitter blow. We had been looking forward to the brief respite that the opportunity that the promised Christmas bubble offered. This careful pause was a ‘hard won’ victory in the battle against Covid-19 and offered the chance of some normality. But this is gone and we all now need to look to the future.
Until the day comes that vaccines protect us all we need to continue to keep up the fight and not allow our guard to slip. We all have a part to play and some will be asked to contribute more than others and some will pay a very heavy price in this battle. It is therefore vital that we continue to work together, as the victory we seek will only be achieved if we stand united.
The defeat of the virus will only happen if we all willingly work as one and our leaders must remember that volunteers are far more effective than those pressed to comply by force. Coercion is not the way forward and using the police to enforce regulations would be wrong and counterproductive.
What we need is a simple adaptive strategy that all can see and understand. This is why the majority support a UK wide approach, implemented through strategies agreed by national parliaments and delivered via a regional approach. One size never fits all and politicians must remember this in the same way that they must heed that imposing blanket restrictions, without careful explanation, are likely to reduce compliance.
2021 will without doubt prove to be as challenging as 2020, our resolve and commitment will be challenged. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel and providing we focus on that, we will see our way out of the trials we currently face.
And as this Christmas approaches, whilst it might not be our normal one, remember it is a time for families and for goodwill. I do hope you enjoy it and as you reach out to connect to those who can’t be with you, spare a thought of how you can also reach out to those outwith our families who will be on their own during this festive period.
