The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Terminally ill Fife mum can go on final holiday
AFife mother with terminal cancer will be able to take her children on a final holiday to Tenerife despite concerns that Covid travel restrictions would prevent her from getting to Edinburgh airport.
Nicola Sturgeon clarified Linzi Page from Burntisland could go from her home to the airport with her two young children after her case was raised at First Minister’s Questions.
Ms Page, 38, had feared her holiday would be wrecked by the ban, which from today makes it illegal for people to travel outside their council area if, like Fife, their local authority is subject to Tier 3 or 4 restrictions.
Questions about the implications of the local ban on foreign travel were raised when External Affairs Secretary Michael Russell told Holyrood this week international trips would not be illegal but going to the airport would be against regulations.
Ms Page, who has stagefour bowel cancer, wrote to Ms Sturgeon to ask the first minister if she could fly on compassionate grounds to make a “final memory” with her seven-year-old son and four-year-old daughter.
Her case was raised at Holy rood by Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard.
Mr Leonard said :“I spoke to Linzi this morning. She told me the family have had a tough year and this holiday would be a nice memory for them.”
The first minister said Ms Page’s situation was “indeed tragic and my heart goes out to her”, adding that she had written to the family to clarify the situation.
She explained there is an exemption to the travel ban when it came to those wanting to make a trip for compassionate reasons.
“She asked me for clarity on whether she could go on one, final holiday with her family. I have written back to her today advising her that, under the regulations, anyone in a situation like hers can go on a final holiday.
“The travel restrictions come with a general exemption that is termed in law a reasonable excuse. The regulations give a list of examples of what a reasonable excuse might be. But as I’ve said already it is not exhaustive.”
Meanwhile, a “concrete” plan for gatherings to take place at Christmas could be revealed as early as next week, Ms Sturgeon said.
She told MSPs yesterday that the chief medical officers of all four UK nations have been asked to compile a proposal for how the easing of some restrictions would work.
It comes after discussions between Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove and the devolved administration son Wednesday,
She said: “We discussed the Christmas period and how we could come to a sensible – and I stress sensible – and safe plan that would allow people, not 100% normality, but a greater degree of normality, in particular the ability to spend some time with loved ones.
“From that meeting yesterday, we charged our officials – advised by our respective chief medical officers – to put together a concrete proposal that we will then consider and hopefully announce the detail of in the coming days.
“I would hope... we could share that with the public over the course of next week.”
Scotland recorded 50 deaths from coronavirus and 1,089 positive tests in the 24 hours to yesterday.
The first minister said the death toll under this measure – of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days – has risen to 3,427.
The daily test positivity rate is 4.6%, down from 6.7% on the previous day.
A total of 85,612 people have now tested positive in Scotland, up from 84,523.
There are 1,212 people in hospital confirmed to have the virus, down by 29. Of these patients, 85 are in intensive care, down by three.
The R number is thought to be slightly below one.