Welcome to the Full Scottish from our Cowcaddens Studio in Glasgow.
Full Scottish starts at 12:00 midday on Sunday 15th March 2020
This week, the Full Scottish is presented by Professor Alison Phipps, UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages & Arts at the University of Glasgow and her guests are Effie Samara from Red Women Theatre and Andrew Wilson from All Under One Banner.
It seems as if you are old or have an underlying health condition, your place in the UK Government’s planning to limit and delay the spread of coronavirus COVID-19 is ambiguous at best. For people at greater risk of severe health complications or even death if they become infected by COVID-19, the herd of infected elephants in the room is the herd immunity policy. While the bulk of society are being advised to keep calm and wash your hands, and don’t panic buy essentials that everyone needs, it seems the great British public have taken that to mean the opposite as supermarket shelves are cleared of toilet rolls, hand sanitisers, rice and pasta and only about 53% have said they wash their hands more frequently.
Many things are going to have to happen to get through what is the greatest public health crisis in the UK since WW2. What we do not need is the Blitz spirit, but instead we need sound planning to protect the population, sound planning and regulations to ensure that everyone has access to the food and essentials they need to preserve life. Work patterns will have to change so that where possible, those who can work from home are able to and that anyone who is unable to earn during the crisis has adequate financial resources to pay their bills and stay alive. It is time to consider Universal Basic Income (UBI) as the best way to eradicate poverty and overcome the despair of social isolation for those who have to self-isolate. Can UBI be implemented in Scotland now or do we have to wait for independence for that to happen.?
You can find the latest NHS Scotland Coronavirus COVID-19 information here