First Minister: Get ready for the ‘new normal’
● Sturgeon says Scotland may face repeated lockdowns to control virus ● Masks in public, part-time schooling and no mass gatherings for months ● Scottish Government accused of ‘too little, too late’ on early action plan
Scots need to get used to a “new normal” that could see multiple future lockdowns at short notice, the wearing of masks in public places, and a reconfiguration of workplaces and schools to protect social distancing, if coronavirus restrictions are to be relaxed.
A blueprint for how the Scottish Government intends to plan for easing restrictions published yesterday also revealed that a new focus on “test, trace and isolate” would be needed if the lockdown is to end.the paper was released as the Scottish Centre on European Relations questioned why ministers in Edinburgh had not done more during the early stages of the pandemic, saying the Scottish ban on mass gatherings on 16 March had been “too little, too late”.
In a report by the think tank, coauthor Dr Louisa Harding-edgar said: “It is incomprehensible that the Scottish Government did not argue for introducing travel restrictions internationally and nationally.”
Launching yesterday’s document, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she wanted to have an adult conversation with the public to ensure that measures in coming months to lift restrictions did not lead to a new spike in coronavirus transmission.
She said the government was looking
at what could be done in a “phased and careful manner” to allow life to resume, but that “people would have to find a way to live with this virus” and that “a return to normal, as we knew it, is not on the cards in the near future”.
And while she said did not want “to depress people with talk of years” and “Christmas would not be cancelled”, she stressed that large gatherings would be banned for the foreseeable future. The First Minister said the number of people in Scotland who had now died after testing positive for the virus was 1,120, up by 58 from 1,062 on Wednesday. A total of 9,409 people have now tested positive, up by 371 in 24 hours. However, the number of people in intensive care and hospital has fallen by seven to 148 and by 28 to 1,776 respectively.
Ms Sturgeon said: “I am seeking to start a grown-up conversation with the public about the complex decisions that lie ahead of us as we look beyond lockdown. We will seek to inform the public with the best scientific advice possible, but the science will never be exact and we are in uncharted territory, so we also need to make careful judgements and be prepared to adapt and change course as we go.
“We want to ease restrictions, but we cannot rule out having to reapply them should the virus run out of control.”
She added: “Every day we see evidence that this virus causes real harm, but so too do the lockdown measures we are taking to contain it. This is causing harm to the economy and living standards, to children’s education and to mental health and wellbeing. That is why we need to try to find a better balance than the one we have now, but as we do so we cannot take our eye off the need to suppress the virus and minimise the damage it does.
“It is only when we are sure the virus is under control that we can even start to ease any of the restrictions because the virus will not have gone away.
“As we start to lift the restrictions, the real risk is that Covid-19 runs rampant again, so a return to normal as we knew it is not on the cards in the near future. What we will be seeking to find is a new normal – a way of living alongside this virus, but in a form that keeps it under control.
“Physical distancing and limiting our contacts with others will be a fact of life for a long time to come – certainly until treatments and ultimately a vaccine offer different solutions. But if we all keep doing the right things, there will be a way through – and we will find it, together.”
Ms Sturgeon also said that it could be necessary to “redesign workplaces and school classrooms to allow people to get back to normal, but keeping social distancing measures in place” and that not all children might return to school at the same time.
Responding to questions about border controls and a lack of testing at airports, with passengers still arriving from coronavirus-infected countries, Ms Sturgeon said: “This is one of the issues that has to be a key consideration about where we go in the next phase of this..”