Sturgeon in warning on foreign trips
NICOLA Sturgeon has advised people not to book a holiday abroad this year. After Spain was removed from the list of countries where people returning do not need to selfisolate, the First Minister said just because a country is on the safe, low risk list now, doesn’t mean it will be in a few weeks’ time.
There has been criticism of the decision to allow travel from Spain without self-isolation being overturned very soon after.
The Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish and UK governments all decided to re-impose quarantine restrictions on travel from Spain this week.
Sturgeon said the advice is to avoid all non-essential foreign travel.
The First Minister said: “Right now I wouldn’t decide to go on a foreign holiday.”
The First Minister said she understood that many people would like to book a holiday for “Some sunshine” or to take advantage of a “last minute deal”.
However, she said: “You are all responsible adults but I don’t want people to come back and say I didn’t give advice.”
Dr Nicola Steedman, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, re-iterated the warning on foreign travel.
She said: “Nowhere is completely safe, It is a global pandemic. We run the risk, because numbers are so low in Scotland that we think it’s gone away. It hasn’t.
“In a few weeks’ time we don’t want to be in the position some other countries are in, when numbers were low but have shot up.
“The risk is still there and the risk is real. I would love to give a list of places but I can’t.”
The First Minister also warned pubs, cafes and restaurants to follow the rules on hygiene and collecting customer contact details or risk a shutdown.
Ms Sturgeon said that instances of breaches of the rules where contact details were not being taken had come to the government’s attention.
She said: “Businesses know what to do and customers know what to expect.”
She added: “If we do start to see outbreaks linked to the hospitality sector, we would need to take action and that could include closing premises down again. Nobody wants to see that happen.”
She said if places don’t comply customers should go somewhere else, adding “we cannot allow standards to slip”.
The latest statistics showed there were four new cases reported in the last 24 hours, which was 0.1% of the number of tests carried out.
There were 264 people in hospital with confirmed Covid-19 – a reduction of six. Two patients were in intensive care units and there were no deaths reported for the 12th day in a row. In the Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area there were 158 people in hospital, which is 17 fewer than one week ago.