Ight on track for a summer of staycations
FM says country ‘heading in right direction’ and Hancock promises holidays as infection rate falls
SCOTLAND is “heading in the right direction” in the battle with Covid-19, with the crucial R number remaining below one.
With hospitalisations and the numbers of people in intensive care falling, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said there was “much to feel optimistic about”.
And, on a trip to Scotland to visit Glasgow’s Lighthouse Lab, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he was confident domestic travel restrictions would be lifted in time for the summer staycations.
But Sturgeon reminded people to remain cautious and comply with stay-at-home regulations as the latest figures were revealed.
Scotland recorded 24 deaths from coronavirus and 500 positive tests in the previous 24 hours.
That brought the death toll under this measure – people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days – to 7398.
There were 726 people in hospital confirmed to have the virus, down 24 in 24 hours, and 69 patients were in intensive care, down one.
She said the daily test positivity rate is 2.5 per cent, down from 2.6 per cent the previous day.
Sturgeon added: “There is little doubt at the moment that things are heading in the right direction.
“The number of cases is falling, the numbers in hospital are falling and the vaccination programme is progressing extremely well.”
Giving an update on the vaccine roll-out, she said 1,688,808 people have received a first dose as of Wednesday morning – up by 26,729
– and 100,058 have received their second dose.
Hancock said that due to the speed of the roll-out, holidaymakers will be able to travel freely between Scotland and England this summer.
However, he added that travel rules north of the Border would he a matter for Holyrood.
The Health Secretary said: “I’m now more optimistic about having a great British summer than I have been at any time, thanks to the speed and the effectiveness of the vaccine roll-out.
“By great British summer, I absolutely mean people being able to enjoy travel across the whole of the UK.
“Of course, the travel rules for Scotland are matter out for the Scottish Government, rightly.”
Outdoor mixing and a return of retail shops are pencilled in for Monday, April 5, in Scotland, depending on the results of all pupils returning to school.
Opening shops will be the final step before a move into the tiered restrictions system, which is set to come into place on April 26.
Sturgeon said she is considering “accelerating” the easing of lockdown restrictions following recent positive data but warned travel restrictions will remain for “some time yet”, stressing it is vital to ensure cases of the virus, particularly of new variants, were not imported into the country.
The UK Government aims to lift international travel restrictions by June 21.
And Hancock struck a more optimistic tone on his visit to Glasgow, where he’d travelled to see work on vaccines and to publicise the Health Regulatory Authority announcement that there will be a fast-track approach to approving new vaccines to tackle coronavirus variants.
He said: “I think we’ll be able to lift the travel restrictions in England within the roadmap. That roadmap is possible both here in Scotland and in England, because of the vaccine programme.
“One of the factors we have to take into to be vigilant about in that roadmap is the emergence of new variants in case the current vaccines are not as effective.
“And that’s why today’s announcement by the HRA is so important because it will allow us as fast as safely possible to have a new vaccine against a variant if, that is, it is needed.”
A TIKTOK star aged 103 got to have a hug for the first time in nearly a year as care home visits were relaxed – after beating coronavirus. Percy Mann shot to fame when footage of him having a boogie with his Zimmer frame emerged on the social media site during the first lockdown. The former police officer contracted Covid but pulled through, and also suffered a broken hip but is in good spirits at Whitecraigs Care Home near Glasgow. Proud daughter Liz Macleod described Percy as
“Superman” after she got to have a hug with him on Tuesday.
She said: “It was lovely to see him.
“He was so pleased to see me. He sat up and he was so animated when he was talking.
“Sometimes I went to see him and he wasn’t always aware of what was happening because it was outside and it was cold and uncomfortable but today he was in his own environment and he was chatting away – it was great, really fabulous to see him.
“It was nice to give him a cuddle and hold his hand and get that contact.
“It was like I was visiting him a year past, like it was back to normal.”