SCOTLAND ‘FACING A LOCKDOWN SUMMER’
Top adviser warns restrictions could go on for months as virus cases soar to new levels
SCOTS families have been warned that lockdowns will still be needed in the summer to prevent another Covid-19 spike next winter. One of nicola Sturgeon’s top coronavirus advisers expects some restrictions, i ncluding travel rules, to continue for months – and for local one-week lockdowns to be imposed when there are virus flare-ups.
Professor Devi Sridhar said that the current full lockdown in mainland Scotland and across the UK may be needed for 12 weeks – but even after that some restrictions will be necessary through the summer.
It is a blow for those who desperately hoped a rapid rollout of the vaccine could allow a return to near normality by the end of spring.
The warning came as Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the
recent surge in virus cases ‘ doesn’t show much sign of abating’ and further restrictions may be needed to tackle the ‘very alarming situation’.
Officials have suggested professional sport may need to be suspended, while restrictions on indoor hospitality could continue beyond May.
Professor Sridhar, chairman of public health at Edinburgh University and a member of the Scottish Government Covid-19 advisory group, told Times Radio that a postlockdown strategy should include ‘robust border measures’.
She said that, with the current virus numbers, there is no alternative to a full lockdown, even though it is ‘crude’ and ‘ catastrophic’ for the economy and people’s mental health.
Professor Sridhar added: ‘Get those numbers down, protect the NHS for the next 12 weeks. When we get into March, hopefully the numbers are low again, we get to seasonal change; get your test and t r acing and border measures in place to really suppress.
‘And then in the summer, instead of taking your foot off the gas and instead of saying “let’s open up everything”, actually think how do we prevent this winter from happening again? How do we actually protect that low prevalence?
‘Get emergency teams in place if there are flare-ups, whether in Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh or London, and go in, have a quick, sharp, one-week lockdown and get your testing and tracing to clear the virus.
‘This is the model that works to keep the majority of people and the majority of the economy going.’
A further 1,877 coronavirus cases were confirmed in Scotland yesterday, taking the figure over the previous seven days to 15,173.
Another three deaths were also confirmed, while the number in hospital with the virus rose by two to a record high of 1,598, and those in intensive care soared by 14 to 123, also a record high.
Speaking on the BBC’s Politics Scotland yesterday, Mr Swinney said: ‘We face a very alarming situation. On Boxing Day, Scotland had about 130 cases per 100,000. Ten days later it was 300.
‘That scale and pace of acceleration is what led ministers to the conclusions on Monday that we had to apply the very tight restrictions that we are putting in place.
‘And I don’t think I’m revealing a state secret when I say the debate within Cabinet was not whether we were going too far but whether we were going far enough in what we had put in place on Monday.
‘We are obviously looking at the data very carefully and it doesn’t show much sign of abating to any extent.
‘We’re seeing case numbers which are hovering around 2,000 per day, sometimes a little below that, sometimes significantly higher than that, and on a number of days over 2,500. So we’ve got an accelerating situation on our hands and we have to constantly review whether more restrictions are required.’
Mr Swinney said the Government remains ‘open’ to further restrictions if required.
Meanwhile, National Clinical Director Professor Jason Leitch indicated restrictions may continue for hospitality premises into May. Asked by a listener on BBC Radio Scotland’s Off The Ball programme if he could expect to celebrate his birthday that month in his local pub, Professor Leitch said: ‘I think perhaps yes – but it might be outdoors.’
He also suggested the rising number of Covid cases could put the Scottish football season at risk, saying: ‘I think the football authorities will have to look at that over the next few weeks, depending on what happens to the numbers.
‘We are looking at things we can tighten... remember, lots of places are shut down. So professional sport has to be on its absolute best behaviour to keep its doors open.’
‘Very alarming situation’ ‘No sign of it abating’