Scotland faces six further months of lockdown woe
Stop-start curbs on the way as Sturgeon says she cannot be ‘definitive’ about impact on Christmas
SCOTS face up to six months of Covid curbs as part of a renewed battle against the resurgence of the virus.
Nicola Sturgeon yesterday said urgent action was needed to tackle the rapid rise in the number of cases.
In a sign that families and households will face a gruelling winter of tougher restrictions, she said people should be prepared to live differently for another six months – adding she could not make ‘definitive predictions about Christmas’.
The First Minister also indicated that some measures may be stepped up when virus rates rise, then eased when rates are lower, over a prolonged period until a vaccine is found.
This could include the introduction of ‘circuit breaker’ restrictions similar to a full lockdown for short periods of one or more weeks.
Miss Sturgeon said in her coronavirus briefing yesterday that additional restrictions will ‘almost certainly’ be put in place over the next couple of days – and some could be introduced for as long as six months.
She added: ‘We are going to be living with Covid until such time as
vaccine takes away the need for living with it to mean us all living under certain restrictions.
‘Six months is kind of a timescale that we all have to be prepared to be living in a way that is not entirely normal.
‘Now, what that doesn’t mean is that any restrictions we bring in place this week will be in place for a solid six-month period.
‘It may be that we have periods where we have to have greater restrictions, then ease them a bit, and have other restrictions later on.
‘So the six-month period is the length of time that we are all likely to have to be living with some restrictions, but it is not necessarily going to be the same restrictions with the same severity for the duration of that period.’
On the prospect of ‘circuit breaker’ measures, Miss Sturgeon said: ‘I suppose what we’re trying to do here... is have restrictions in place that have the minimal possible impact on people’s life, while having the necessary impact of controlling the virus.
‘At different times that balance will require to be different. We required in March for that to be a very strict lockdown, full-scale lockdown, because of the way and the speed at which the virus was spreading then.
‘As we suppressed the virus we were able to gradually lift that to give people more freedom, but as we do that, the virus gets the chance to spread a bit more and as we go into winter, that adds other ways in which the virus can spread.’
She continued: ‘We’re having to look now at more restrictions, I hope not of the level that we had back in March.
‘These are not easy judgments to reach. But we don’t want people to be living under restrictions that are either too heavy or go on for too long, if that is not necessary. But equally, we don’t want to be under-acting.’
A leaked Scottish Government document – confirmed by sources to be genuine – yesterday showed how ‘circuit breaker’ restrictions, including the closure of hospitality venues, visitor attractions and entertainment venues, as well as travel restrictions and a general ‘stay at home’ message, could be introduced for a period of one or two weeks, possibly during next month’s school holidays.
Although Miss Sturgeon said she would not comment on ‘leaked documents’, she said any responsible government would be looking at a ‘whole range’ of measures.
She added that it might be that ‘short-term measures have a place’ but also said there would need to be other measures in place ‘for quite some time’.
Professor Jason Leitch, the Scottish Government’s national clinical
‘Give people more freedom’ ‘Financial and practical support’
director, said there may be times when tougher restrictions are required, while at other times there may be curbs across the whole country for a ‘prolonged period’.
Scottish Labour health spokesman Monica Lennon said: ‘Every effort must be made to ensure our testing and tracing system is working effectively and that people have the right financial and practical support to allow them to isolate when necessary.
‘Lockdown restrictions are not harm-free and the Scottish Gova ernment must demonstrate that lessons have been learned over recent months.
‘The Health Secretary must urgently boost support for our NHS and social care, to equip our heroic healthcare staff to deal with autumn and winter pressures.’
Calling the situation ‘a dark moment for the country’, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie
Rennie said people had already made ‘huge sacrifices to stop the virus’.
He added: ‘With the number of cases rising, this will be the real test of whether the Government has used the past six months to build capacity in the health service and ensure that our test-and-trace and quarantine systems are up to scratch. The Scottish Government
must act decisively to protect both the economy and public health.
‘That means being honest with the public that the elimination strategy has not worked and what it will take to keep the virus under control until a vaccine is developed.’
Miss Sturgeon also said she was reluctant to say how the restrictions were likely to impact on Christmas.
She said: ‘This is a very uncertain and volatile situation. I am very reluctant, standing here in mid towards late September, [to] make definitive predictions about Christmas because I know how important Christmas is to people.
‘Remember there’s a whole swathe of our population [who] have already, like our Muslim community has already, gone through Eid without being able to celebrate properly.’