The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
School’s out
● All Scottish schools will close tomorrow as spread of coronavirus takes its toll on public life ● Prime Minister Boris Johnson refuses to rule out UK-wide lockdown to stop spread of virus ● Transport secretary warns of huge reduction in travel timetable
All schools in Scotland are to close tomorrow, Nicola Sturgeon announced yesterday as the spread of coronavirus continued to take its toll on public life.
In a briefing at St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh, the first minister also said a third patient in Scotland diagnosed with Covid-19 has died.
There are now 227 confirmed positive coronavirus cases across Scotland.
Last night NHS Tayside said it was suspending all visiting times for inpatient wards in all hospitals across Tayside to limit the spread of the disease. The measures will come into effect from today.
Visiting may be permitted in some circumstances, such as patients receiving end-of-life care or those accompanying partners during childbirth.
Announcing the schools closures, Ms Sturgeon said: “I want to be as open and transparent as possible.
“My view is that it is now inevitable that we will close schools and nurseries.
“My planning assumption now is schools will close to pupils at the end of this week and I wanted to give parents notice of that now.”
She said that schools have lost too many staff to continue as normal and the government is still working out the finer detail of “what this will all mean”.
The first minister added people should not assume schools will reopen after the Easter break and she could not promise they will open before the summer holidays.
Initial plans are also in place to introduce £1.9 billion of further financial measures for businesses, on top of the £320 million package of support for small and medium businesses and the hospitality industry announced earlier in the week.
Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop warned earlier yesterday the virus has already had “challenging implications” for business, as figures showed Scotland’s economy grew faster than the UK as a whole in the final three months of 2019.
Ms Sturgeon also said: “People’s way of life will be changing dramatically, and potentially for some time to come.
“Lives are being disrupted like never before.
“As part of our efforts to support people and communities, not just businesses, I confirm that the Scottish Government will this afternoon set out a £350m package of welfare and wellbeing support for people impacted economically or through reduced contact with wider society.”
The announcement comes in the wake of a coalition of charities asking ministers to increase the money provided to the Scottish Welfare Fund, which supports people in emergencies.
Earlier, Ms Sturgeon said banks had a “big responsibility” to support people through the coronavirus response after being bailed out during the financial crash.
She urged the banking sector to act in a “responsible manner”, helping limit the economic impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, both to individuals through mortgage relief and by supporting Scottish businesses.
As part of the chancellor’s package of financial measures to shore up the economy against the coronavirus impact, Rishi Sunak said he wanted mortgage lenders to offer a three-month “holiday” period for those affected by coronavirus.
Speaking to the PA News Agency during a visit to Age Scotland, Ms Sturgeon said she expected banks to honour that.
Ms Sturgeon said: “From the biggest bank to the individual in the smallest community in Scotland, we all have a part to play here.
“We’re heading into stormy waters but if we all play our part, we can steer the ship through these stormy waters.
“The banks got bailed out and they got bailed out for the overall good of the economy, but the country did help the banks. The country is now looking to the banks to be part of our national response to the coronavirus and I hope and expect that they will behave in that responsible manner.”
Meanwhile historic buildings run by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) are to close and events in NTS properties, including weddings will be postponed. Catholic bishops also announced that no public masses will be celebrated in Scotland from today.