Five years have passed since Covid-19 made its quiet entry into Scotland. The country, arriving late to the pandemic, met the unfolding crisis with an almost eerie calm. Perhaps the full weight of what was coming hadn’t quite sunk in.
That week in March 2020, the Scottish Parliament went about its usual business. Then-Health Secretary Jeane Freeman assured MSPs that Scotland was in the “containment phase” and that there was “no community transmission.” Life carried on. A legislative vote took place. But the virus was already settling in, and within days, nerves in the chamber began to fray.
A Government Following Science—or Ignoring It?
Freeman returned to parliament just two days later as concerns grew. MSPs questioned why international travelers weren’t being screened and why large events—like the Scotland v France Six Nations match—were still happening.
Catherine Calderwood, Scotland’s then-chief medical officer, dismissed concerns. “Health Protection Scotland has looked at all the available evidence… and has concluded that there is no scientific reason for cancelling Scotland’s Six Nations fixture,” she said.
To the public, it seemed reassuring. But behind closed doors, epidemiologists were painting a very different picture. Mark Woolhouse, an infectious disease expert at the University of Edinburgh, had been warning Calderwood since January that immediate social distancing was necessary. His words were not heeded.
Rugby, Gatherings, and the Missed Warnings
That March weekend, thousands gathered at Murrayfield. French fans filled bars, mingling with locals in packed pubs, raising pints, and breaking into spontaneous singalongs.
Meanwhile, across Europe, Italy’s hospitals were in meltdown. Grim images of patients gasping for air, medical staff collapsing from exhaustion, and army trucks carrying the dead flooded news reports. China had already responded with mass disinfection and strict lockdowns.
The contradiction was glaring. Scotland had warnings, yet life went on as though nothing was amiss.
Calderwood’s Absence from Scrutiny
Calderwood, now a university employee, was expected to give evidence at the UK Covid Inquiry. She didn’t. Citing an undisclosed illness, she avoided questioning on critical decisions made during the early days of the crisis.
A Sunday Mail investigation found that during the period she was supposedly too ill to testify, she had applied for a new job. That revelation stung for those who lost loved ones and wanted answers. While bereaved families demanded accountability, one of Scotland’s most influential health officials slipped away unscathed.
The Expert Who Was Ignored
Mark Woolhouse’s testimony to the Covid Inquiry has been particularly damning. His research group analyzed early reports from Wuhan, concluding by January 2020 that the virus posed a severe threat.
- He sent multiple emails to Calderwood warning of the crisis.
- A meeting was finally arranged for February 28, where he pushed for urgent social distancing measures.
- Just days later, Scotland’s biggest rugby match went ahead anyway.
His frustration was clear. “I was not convinced by any of the responses I received to my emails in January 2020,” he told the inquiry. “I considered the threat to be extremely serious and equally urgent but felt there was little sense of either from the CMO Scotland.”
The phrase “following scientific advice” had been used repeatedly by officials. Yet Woolhouse, one of the country’s leading epidemiologists, directly contradicted this narrative.
Lockdowns and the Lack of Planning
Woolhouse also challenged the approach to lockdowns. He had advocated for mass testing as an alternative but was told it was “unrealistic.” When lockdown was imposed on March 23, it was done without prior analysis of the harms it could cause.
Scientific decision-making, it seems, was marred by “groupthink.” The inquiry judge has already noted that officials made critical decisions through consensus rather than rigorous debate, a process that may have diluted the urgency of expert warnings.
Scotland’s Unanswered Questions
Five years later, Scotland’s Covid response still feels like a patchwork of half-truths and contradictions. Decisions that shaped the nation’s experience of the pandemic remain shrouded in unanswered questions. And for those seeking justice, accountability seems as elusive as ever.
