The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Support plea as area avoids Tier 3
COVID: Business leader calls for urgent financial backing
Perth and Kinross has avoided the threat of tougher coronavirus restrictions but the Scottish Government is being urged to step up support to save jobs.
NHS Tayside had argued for the area to join Dundee in entering the stricter Tier 3 status, but it will be placed in Tier 2.
Perth and Kinross Council leader Murray Lyle pleaded with residents to stick to the rules and help bring down infection rates.
Stephen Leckie, president of Perthshire Chamber of Commerce, said constraints were taking a toll on businesses and urgent financial support was needed to prevent widespread job losses.
Ninewells could run out of beds in just six weeks if new stricter rules for Dundee do not dent rising hospital admissions, Nicola Sturgeon warned as she confirmed the city was going into Tier 3 of Covid19 regulations.
Dundee East MSP Shona Robison raised the issue at First Minister’s Questions, asking what the city can do to “blunt the rises” and move out of the stricter controls.
Ms Sturgeon said: “The projections around NHS Tayside are part of the reason we have taken the decision today around Dundee City.
“This action is designed to take Tayside, and Dundee in particular, off the path it is currently on and avoid these projections coming to pass.
“My plea to people across Dundee and also the wider Tayside region is to abide strictly by all of the advice and all of the regulations in order that these decisions and the actions that we have taken have the best possible chance of working.”
A Scottish Government report estimates demand will exceed capacity within six weeks across Tayside.
It does note however that there are “early signs” the rises are “blunting” and this will be considered indepth in a review of tiers on November 10.
Dundee was the only place in Scotland to suffer a level rise, from Monday, following a local spike in the infection rate.
Dundonians were asked by Lord Proviost Ia n Borthwick to “continue to make sacrifices for the greater good”.
Angus, Fife and Perth and Kinross will be under Tier 2 restrictions.
The announcement means non-essential travel will not be permitted into and out of the city, although shops and gyms can remain open.
There will be additional precautions in schools and the closure of all leisure and entertainment venues. Pubs, restaurants and cafés can open until 6pm but cannot sell alcohol.
The city council says it is working with partners in the wider Dundee Partnership, including NHS Tayside, to prepare for the new measures.
Council leader John Alexander said: “It has been an exhausting year and I realise that people have given up so much over the course of 2020.
“I would ask that they look carefully at the new guidance which we are publicising to inform them about how they can guard against virus spread, and also reduce the risk that additional restrictions might be imposed in the future.
The council is also offering advice for business about support grants and also for people who were previously shielding on its website.
Alison Henderson, chief executive of Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce, called for more information about where transmission is spreading, to potentially allow some businesses to reopen.
“If we could access data that would help us fully understand what the local picture is, and where hotspots are, we could do something really quickly to address it,” she said.
“There are a lot of sectors who have access to testing in Dundee. We have Ninewells and a big social care sec tor so is that showing a lot of cases in Dundee but mostly in hotspot sectors?
“How do we know that these blanket restrictions are justified?
“The frustration is not knowing what businesses can do to move into lower tiers and how long it will be before we can expect that to happen.
“Business owners have put safety measures in place and have invested a lot so how else can we collectively act quickly to quash this and move forward?”
Ms Henderson also welcomed the decision to put Dundee’s neighbouring areas, Angus and Perth and Kinross, in Tier 2 to allow some restrictions to be relaxed there.
Chief Superintendent Andrew Todd, of Police Scotland’s Tayside Division, said officers will “ac t decisively” to enforce the restrictions where necessary.
Dr Emma Fletcher, NHS Tayside’s interim director of public health, added: “Our priority is to reduce the direct impact of the virus on our health, to reduce the number of people who will experience long-term effects from the infection and to save lives.
“These extra restrictions announced today are vital to stopping the infection spreading further and if we can suppress the virus, our other health and social care services can continue.
“We know the next few months will be challenging for everyone, but we are already making plans and preparations for Covid vaccine delivery so that we are ready when one becomes available and life can start to return to normal.”
This action is designed to take Tayside... off the path it is currently on