In an attempt to break the rinse repeat selective venting, the virus has certainly changed the dynamic somewhat.
Economically, the position is even weaker than it was before, and society-wise, nothing would typically promote unity more than shared hardship. And resources, which credit to Sunak, at least his early moves, showed a degree of unity not seen in a while.
Yet by all accounts, both official polls and a perceptible mood, the popularity of the SNP continues to increase, going into next year's election.
Post Brexit and GE i though the SNP momentum would somewhat dip, a fair bit.
The constant 'Boris can't say no to us, if we want an indyref' was always going to get too tedious and as unsustainable as the unsustainable position it was challenging, they couldn't really push that all the way to 2021. Particularly as it was apparent there wasnt enough of an appetite, certainly not for a referendum and doubtedly for independence either.
And since the outbreak, i have not heard independence or the referendum mentioned once, in what, four months now? Making a bulk of the already grossly outdated 'one trick wee jimmy' comments here meaningless, for now at least.
So if they aren't banging the 'populist drum' (which ironically is as unpopular and imho damaging as it is supposedly popular), and the economic case is weakening, but their popularity and approval ratings STILL continue to rise, then either they are doing something right, or others are doing something wrong. Or a bit of both.
As much as the virus has (politically only, obviously it is a horrendous time in all other aspects for everyone everyehere) been a weakening hinderance, the SNP have it seems managed to make some positives for themselves out of it. Managing to pause their own supposed raison d'etre, put the good of the country and people first at a time of need, or at least be seen to be doing that, on top of making genuine difficult decisions and managing to continue to do one better than westminster (whether it is clarity, speed of response, addirional support for those feeling they fall through the cracks).
Plus the cummings situation really fucked the Tory party over, particularly up here, currently the SNP's most credible opposition, where despite all their efforts and grounds gained, they ended up being unable to avoid looking hypocritical, dragging them back into the Westminster puppets tag they so desperately tried to shake off.
All that, in the build-up to the election begins to add up, a long long way to go yet, obviously, out of this virus crisis first and foremost.