TWO years on from this global pandemic – it’s almost unbelievable. Yet here we are, in and out of restrictions, not really further forward.

People with a disability and unpaid carers have daily struggles outwith this pandemic. Covid has shone a light on a number of different issues.

These issues have always been there – just not highlighted in past years. It is a positive step that they’re being addressed, but it’s long overdue.

Unpaid carers often don’t identify as such, like family members, a friend or a partner. Carers Trust Scotland, the largest provider of comprehensive carers support services in Scotland, recently reported that there are an estimated 690,000 carers in Scotland, including 29,000 young carers under the age of 18. Three out of five people may become carers at any stage in their lives, and one in 10 are already fulfilling some of these caring roles today.

We should value them more, as they are going above and beyond at the moment. I’ve talked to many unpaid carers; they were worried before the pandemic and still are.

I often wonder who supports the carers when they are ill. That’s a big concern: they don’t get any respite, which may impact their mental health. We need to remember all unpaid carers aren’t super human – we need to give them a voice and listen to them more; value them in our community.

I participated in some research carried out by Glasgow University – a study of the lives of people with learning disabilities throughout the pandemic.

People with a disability should be involved in decision making on how to improve lives.

Before the pandemic, people with a learning disability were more likely to have worse health, as well as worse financial and emotional support than people who don’t have a disability.

Here are some of the findings: 27% of people with a disability were close to someone who died during Covid – only 6% of people with disabilities received professional help.

Thirty-five percent of people were not sure when normal life would return.

I think this research highlighted that it’s not a level playing field – maybe that was the case well before we had even heard of the word “Covid”.

As a disability campaigner, I hear worrying feedback every day from unpaid carers and people with a disability. I spoke with someone with a disability who relies on consistency of care. She told me: “My main carer was my sister. She shopped and made sure I was in bed safely at night.

“Covid meant that she had to stand at the end of the ramp, having shopped for me. Initially I’d no credit card to do online shopping. She had to wipe down shopping and I’d to take it indoors a little at a time. Staff from the care company slowly got sick. My social hours were cancelled, my one hour assessed cover got cut to half an hour.

“At one point I went four days without a shower. This had a real impact on my physical wellbeing, as well as my mental state. There are long-lasting effects that take a time to heal.”

Another person, a carer for her daughter, told me: “Lockdown measures made me realise that our life was already restricted before Covid, significantly more support needed since full lockdown in 2020. Now in a world of no certainty, this used to be the very thing my loved one thrived on.”

Never in modern history has society faced a larger uphill struggle – particularly those who are marginalised. But with the right support structure and strategy from government, there could be a positive outcome.