Comment: Kindness and love are key in getting through new lockdown restrictions

The editorial comment from this week’s Fife Free Press endorsed the First Minister’s call to be strong and be kind as she announced a tightening of the lockdown restrictions.

The tightening of restrictions to bring the pandemic back under control came six months to the day we all went into lockdown.

The First Minister’s speech to the nation on Tuesday evening may well be a watershed moment in this long, and difficult, period in our history.

The measures, which officially start on Friday, may not be a full lockdown, but they will impact on all our lives.

Restrictions on visiting households will once more hit families. The sense of isolation and separation will be painful.

The fragility of our hospitality trade, which supports so many jobs, will once again be tested to the limit as bars and restaurants now must close at 10:00 pm.

And those slender hopes many harboured of a return to office life have been put on hold, leaving buildings empty, possibly even redundant.

The hope is by taking a significant step back, we can, eventually, move forward with hope and confidence, that the pandemic is under control.

But the journey may stretch further into autumn and, perhaps even, winter evenings.

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Lockdown has already been unbearably difficult for so many people, but we have to hunker down once more and play our part.

Do that, and we help protect all those around us.

Getting the balance between protecting health, re-starting the economy and maintaining the fabric of society has been incredibly challenging for our political leaders.

So much of it hinges on how we act now.

Perhaps Nicola Sturgeon’s most important message was her most personal; one which struck the perfect tone to those listening at home.

“Let’s keep going, try to keep smiling, keep hoping and keep looking out for each other,” she said.

“Be strong, be kind and let’s continue to act out of love and solidarity.”

As we head into the dark nights of autumn, and perhaps even winter, we all must do that.

Tomorrow there'll be sunshine, and all this darkness past …

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Allan Crow, Editor, Fife Free Press