THERE is a fallacy hidden in the news that Scotland has recorded its highest daily Covid-19 figures since May, because we are not comparing like with like.

In May, the daily figures were of new symptomatic cases. Now with the test centres and a regime including weekly re-testing of many NHS staff, we are catching many non-symptomatic infections.

To get a more realistic, and more positive, picture, we should look at the weekly number of deaths involving Covid-19. These peaked in April and have been declining ever since.

The same pattern is repeated elsewhere in the UK and through out the European Union: a steep rise to a peak in weekly deaths in the spring and a slower decline to a low level now.

Significantly, the pattern is the same for Sweden, which as it never had a lockdown, operates as a scientific control for our Covid policy.

What all this indicates is that the epidemic is largely behind us, so that we should now focus on rebuilding Scotland’s economy rather than polishing the First Minister’s image.

OTTO INGLIS,

Ansonhill,

Crossgates.