The infection rate in the last 7 days has been higher in Scotland than in England, to the delight of Scottish Cringe Alliance Party members but, over the six months of the pandemic, the infection level in England has been more than 30% higher.
Why has this happened? Well, obviously, greater compliance with the government guidance is largely the answer.
If there has been greater compliance in Scotland, why would that be?
Lots of answers have been offered but researchers from UCL surveyed over 70 000 people and have one simple answer. On BBC 4’s The Briefing Room last night, we heard that a decline in compliance is not due to fatigue, is partly due to confusion and for some, to financial problems, but is far more to do with trust. The lead researcher is clear:
There is only one very clear predictor of compliance and that is confidence in the government to handle the pandemic well. That they believe that the rules that are being set for them are the right rules and are being set in an informed way.
Those of us who watch the First Minister’s briefings will recognise that.
Asked how that has changed, the researcher points to a dramatic fall in confidence, only in England, and that followed on from the earlier end to lock-down in England and the Dominic Cummings events. Since then, confidence has not recovered in England.
Bearing in mind infection rate is dependent on testing. I suspect England rate may be higher
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I agree – pictures of huge student parties at English universities suggest to me that the rate there will be skyrocketing very soon.
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Yep, given the test and trace etc in England is a massive fail, and the fact that they have not really
been particularly good at recording numbers of infection or keeping a proper tally, since the start, the numbers of infection are likely to be out of control in England right now.
More people will have been tested in Scotland since the new ScotGov app, so it’s not surprising the numbers are going up.
The disgusting aspect of all this is the BritNat media rubbing their dirty hands together in glee. Doing the Britnat English governments’ job for them, total scum.
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If last night’s 6pm UK CV update on BBC1 is anything to go by, I’m surprised they know! On another thread I asked if it was common to have stats and updates for England, Wales and NI, but be told the figures didn’t include Scotland. And in the piece on local lockdowns it was Liverpool (fair enough, it’s new) and reports from NE England, Wales and Belfast. Facts only, no vox pop.
Of course, we may also be higher because our universities started sooner and the English ones have yet to catch up, given the time lag.
If this is the case, we must be careful to take the higher path and not return the gloat. Not that I think we would – there’s nothing about this pandemic meriting that.
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