Decisions by Scotland and Wales to rely on tougher Covid restrictions throughout the pandemic may not have been ‘worth it’, scientists said today.
Nicola Sturgeon is still yet to commit to a date for ending work from home guidance, despite England dumping the advice last week, while Mark Drakeford is refusing to lift the highly-controversial ‘rule of six’ for another four days.
Both nations resorted to tougher Covid curbs than England early out in the pandemic, and kept people living under economically-cripping curbs for longer.
But experts told MailOnline they could not see a ‘huge amount of difference’ in the cumulative death rates between England and the rest of the UK.
And they argued Omicron waves panned out similarly across the home nations, even though Downing St slipped through on relatively few rules.
This is despite Scotland cancelling New Year’s Eve celebrations and Mr Drakeford accusing England of being a ‘global outlier’ for Boris Johnson’s gamble to adopt no extra measures. Ms Sturgeon said yesterday Scotland’s tougher festive curbs were ‘worth it’, arguing they kept infection rates below levels south of the border.
