‘ WE MAY NEED TO PUT BRAKES ON’
Sturgeon issues warning as cases in city continue to rise
THE Scottish Government may need to “put the brakes” on easing lockdown after a rise in Covid- 19 cases, the First Minister has said. Addressing a recent rise in the number of positive coronavirus cases, Nicola Sturgeon said it is “dangerous” to think “we no longer need to worry” and the current restrictions are an “overreaction”.
While she stressed she does want to “scaremonger”, she said there is a “definite trend” that has to be taken seriously.
Over the last week, an average of 152 cases have been reported each day, she said, up from 14 per day six weeks ago.
The proportion of people testing positive for the virus has also risen from under 1% two weeks ago to 2.4% now.
Sturgeon said a total of 146 people had tested positive for coronavirus in Scotland in the past 24 hours. This followed 208 positive cases on Sunday and brings the total to 21,543 cases.
The death toll in Scotland remains at 2496 people.
In the Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board there have been 5947 cases – up from 5869 on the previous day.
In the last three weeks, half of all hospital admissions have been in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board area.
It was also revealed yesterday that six hospitality workers across two city centre pubs are self- isolating after a senior member of staff at one of the venues tested positive for Covid- 19.
The Horseshoe Bar and O’Neill’s Grand Central – both owned by Mitchell and Butlers – have remained open after a worker from The Horseshoe tested positive for the virus last week.
Due to a staff shortage at O’Neill’s Grand Central, the firm drafted in three bartenders from the Union Street venue over to The Horsehoe, located close by on Drury Street.
Mitchell and Butlers has confirmed that the individual who tested positive was not one of the three workers to have been transferred from venue to venue.
The firm has said it is taking the outbreak “very seriously” and is “closely monitoring the situation”.
A spokesman from the restaurant operator told the Glasgow Times: “We’d like to assure our guests we’ve been working diligently at all times and are taking great care to make sure that their safety and wellbeing, and that of our colleagues, remains at the very forefront of all of our Covid- secure operations.
“Since reopening we’ve successfully introduced new robust safety protocols at the pub, which are in line with the Government guidance, including frequent cleaning of all surfaces and new table layouts to ensure guests can social distance within the pub.
“Our team have undertaken extensive training in these protocols to ensure the highest safety and hygiene standards are maintained at all times. These new measures are displayed in full on our website and throughout the pub. Since reopening we have been fully supporting the Government’s track and trace efforts and we’ve successfully introduced an effective track and trace policy.
“We are taking these measures very seriously and our policy outlines that when visiting the pub it is compulsory that guests fill out our digital track and trace survey, a system the relevant authorities have been very complimentary of. Any guests who have pre- booked will have already provided adequate details for track and trace so will not need to fill out this form.
“As per our Government- approved safety protocols, our team members provide daily health checks and are being asked to monitor their symptoms closely. If any of our team start to display symptoms of coronavirus then they will need to follow the appropriate public health guidance and self- isolate. We can confirm six team members are currently self- isolating.
“We’d like to again reassure our guests we are taking this very seriously and that we are closely monitoring the situation with the team. We will continue to follow the latest advice from the Government and can confirm the pub currently remains open as usual.”
The company could not break down how many employees are self- isolating from each of the units.
On Thursday, the First Minister will announce the results of the review of lockdown measures in Scotland.
Though she said no final decision has been made, she added it “may be that we have to put the brakes on some further changes”.
She said young people are currently making up a higher proportion of positive cases.