THE NEW YEAR NIGHTMARE

■ Millions back in lockdown and told to stay at home ■ Schools and nurseries closed until February ■ Fears mutant strain could swamp under-pressure NHS

SCOTLAND was plunged into a new lockdown last night as a mutant strain of coronavirus threatens to spiral out of control.

Nicola Sturgeon yesterday warned Scotland is in a ‘race between the vaccine and the virus’ as Covid-19 cases continue to soar.

The new strain is spreading rapidly across the country as scientists confirmed that it is much easier to catch.

Families were warned laws will make it illegal for them to leave their homes, unless for essential purposes.

The latest strict measures were brought in amid fears that the NHS is just weeks from being overwhelmed.

The restrictions mean Scotland is now

under similar curbs to March. Scots who leave their homes without an essential reason for doing so – such as shopping or exercise – will face fines, under laws to be introduced.

Schools will remain closed until at least February 1 – with a move to introduce remote learning for all pupils.

Businesses have been told their staff must work from home if possible, while people can only meet one other person from another household outdoors.

In a grim update to the Scottish parliament yesterday, Miss Sturgeon said she is ‘more concerned about the situation we face now’ than at any time since the virus arrived in Scotland.

She warned that, without urgent intervention, the NHS was just weeks away from being overwhelmed.

The ‘steeply rising trend of infections’ was a serious threat to the health service, she said, as it aims to rapidly roll out the vaccine.

She described frontline NHS services as under ‘considerable pressure’, with some areas in a ‘fragile’ position. She added: ‘ Our modelling suggests that without further intervention, we could breach in-patient Covid capacity within three or four weeks.

‘ Of course, a sharply i ncreasing number of cases means, in human terms, many more people becoming ill and dying.’

She stressed the need to act ‘quickly and decisively’ after a further 1,905 people were revealed to have tested positive for the virus – 15 per cent of those who took a test.

A legally enforceable stay-at-home order was announced which will apply for all of January in Level 4 areas – mainland Scotland and Skye. Other island areas will remain in Level 3.

In addition, schools will be closed to most pupils until February 1 at the earliest.

In a further tightening of restrictions on gatherings, Miss Sturgeon said it would now only be possible for two people from two households to meet outdoors, instead of the previous limit of six people from two households.

This, however, does not include children aged 11 and under. ‘ With regret’, she said churches and other places of worship would also close, apart from for broadcasting services, funerals, weddings or civil partnerships. People previously advised to shield are now being told not to go into work.

Though the measures would be kept under close review, she said: ‘I cannot at this stage rule out having to keep them in place longer, nor making further changes.

‘Nothing about this is easy. I know how devastating restrictions like these ones are and I give an assurance we will not keep them in place for longer than is absolutely necessary.’

However, one of Scotland’s top microbiologists, Professor Hugh Pennington, said the measures would have ‘minimal’ effect, adding: ‘In my view they are panicking a bit.’

He also said he was ‘sceptical’ that the new variant is causing all the problems. ‘It may be playing its part but the failure of test and trace is the big problem,’ he said.

Late last night, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced there would be a similarly strict lockdown in England.

The rules, set out in a TV address, closely followed those outlined by Miss Sturgeon, but Mr Johnson said they would be in place south of the Border until mid-February.

It came after the four nations’ chief medical officers put the UK on the highest Covid-19 alert level for the first time.

Mr Johnson said the weeks ahead would be the ‘hardest yet’ but he believed the country was entering ‘ the l ast phase of the struggle’.

A Scottish Government spokesman said last night: ‘The First Minister has taken part in a four-nations call, during which there was a briefing on the Prime Minist er’s announcement and agreement was reached on a range of areas where the four nations can work together to keep people safe.’

‘They are panicking a bit

Frustrated. Weary. Miserable. this is how many of us feel at the prospect of a New Year lockdown.

After nine months of sacrifice, after Christmas was effectively cancelled, we are to enjoy no respite from Covid-19 this month.

Instead, we are returning to a level of lockdown not seen since the outset of the pandemic. We must stay at home once again and may only travel to work if our duties cannot be performed remotely.

We can leave our homes exclusively for healthcare, caring for others, exercise and essential shopping.

Schools and places of workshop will not reopen for another month, while outdoor gatherings will be severely limited.

This is not where we wanted to be. We know the strains lockdown has piled on businesses and the jobs it has destroyed.

We are aware of the long-term consequences for physical and mental health of keeping millions cooped up and inactive. We desperately want to resume our normal lives, to see friends and family once again and to live freely without having to worry about masks and bubbles and two-metre distances.

But hard realities cannot be avoided. there were 1,905 positive tests for Covid19 recorded on sunday, with a positivity rate of 15 per cent. In all, 289 people have died since Christmas. at this rate, hospitals will breach in-patient coronavirus capacity within three or four weeks. that is not a third wave, but a meltdown.

That must be avoided at all costs, which is what the First Minister and her government are attempting to do.

There can be no doubt that Nicola sturgeon had to act on these trends and act swiftly. Had she not, she would be in dereliction of her office and would be recklessly putting lives in danger. Miss sturgeon told MSPS yesterday: ‘ We are now in a race between the vaccine and the virus.’ It is a race we must win, or countless more lives will be lost.

While the First Minister has acted promptly, she must also ensure she acts proportionately. the mandate that employees work from home is bound to cause confusion, with some businesses believing their staff can come into work.

Government has to work constructively with industry and give as much leeway as possible in applying new and not fully specified rules. Of course, cynical and flagrant abuse of these ambiguities should not be tolerated.

Ministers must also learn from earlier school closures. there can be neither a postcode nor an income lottery when it comes to the quality of education a child receives in scotland.

Remote learning is easier to access for children from wealthier homes, with a ready supply of computers and tablets and tech-savvy parents on hand to assist. For pupils without these advantages, it becomes as simple to linger silently on a Zoom lesson as it does to slump down on the back row of a classroom and hope the teacher never calls on you.

It is vital that this inequity be redressed by providing pupils with the necessary hardware and the additional support required to prevent them falling further behind. the First Minister’s confirmation that up to 70,000 low-income children are benefiting from free laptops is welcome but it is only a first step.

Another lockdown might seem unbearable right now but we bore the previous ones and we will bear this one, too. as the First Minister confirmed yesterday, 150,000 scots have already received their first Pfizer jab.

The end of this nightmare is not far off.