This morning, on my way to an appointment in Edinburgh, it seemed strangely quiet and very different from my last visit before the lockdown eight months ago.  No longer were there tourists thronging the Royal Mile where most shops were closed and the only people in Princes Street Gardens were those with beer cans and bottles trying to shelter from the heavy rain as they probably had nowhere else to go.  Even in November there are normally some visitors but there was no need to dodge crowds on the pavements and the bus had to keep waiting for a while at bus stops as it was ahead of schedule due to few passengers and light traffic.  It was an apparent example of how the pandemic ghost is really affecting the lives and the economy in the deserted streets of our towns and cities.