Use your judgement, Sturgeon tells Scots, as lockdown eases
● Go-ahead for bigger family gatherings than in England ● Pupils may return to classes in polytunnels and offices ● UK suffers ‘second highest Covid death rate in the world’
Nicola Sturgeon has given the green light for “emotional reunions” of families and friends across Scotland this weekend as she confirmed the country will enter the first phase of exit from coronavirus lockdown.
The First Minister admitted she was “worried” about the prospect of virus cases flaring up again as she signalled that Scots will now be able to visit other households if they remain outdoors, take part in outdoor sports, and sunbathe in parks or on beaches.
Ms Sturgeon was speaking as it was reported that the UK has suffered the second highest level of excess deaths during the coronavirus crisis of any country in the world – behind only the United States.
She said she trusts Scots to use their “judgment” to interpret the rules sensibly and issued a plea for a national effort to avoid virus cases rising again.
The easing of restrictions came as the number of hospital cases and deaths from the virus continued to stabilise, while the prevalence of Covid-19 has fallen from an estimated 25,000 across Scotland to 19,000.
The new approach, which gets under way today, marks the first of
Scotland’s four-phase “Route Map” exit from coronavirus lockdown.
And it emerged that Scots pupils could be taught in “alternative venues” such as theatres, mobile classrooms and even polytunnels, to
Hollywood star Brian Cox has transformed himself into the grizzled detective John Rebus for a one-off short film set in lockdown Edinburgh.
Written by author Ian Rankin, it shows the character complaining about being imprisoned in his own home due to his fragile health, railing against the idea of keeping in touch with anyone via “Zoom,” bemoaning the fact he is unable to go to the pub and pining for time with his long-time colleague Siobhan Clarke.
Rankin, who recently finished work on the 23rd Rebus novel, wrote the script for the short film for a National Theatre of Scotland project uniting leading writers with actors and theatre-makers.
The 10-minute film sheds intriguingnewlightonrebus’s true feelings for Clarke, which he has only begun to realise because contact between the pair has been so restricted during lockdown.
John Rebus: The Lockdown Blues, which is set entirely in the kitchen of Rebus’s tenement flat in Marchmont, was filmed by Cox at his home in New York State, where he is currentlyinlockdownhimself.
Rankin, who sat in on online rehearsals with Cox and director Cora Bissett, said the actor even “dressed the set” of his own kitchen with dog food, a map and a bottle of whisky to make it look more realistic.
In the film, Rebus, who has been grappling with the impact of an incurable lung disease in the recent books, admits he would be willing to gamble with his own health for a visit to a pub due to his lonely existence, with only his dog, Brillo, and his record collection as his “cellmates.”
He says: “I’d risk it, right now, even at my age and in my condition. The government says I am high risk so I suppose I must be. That’s my age plus the COPD. The last thing my long-suffering lungs need is the virus or a wee touch of pneumonia.”
The next Rebus book, A Song for the Dark Times, which is due out in October, is set in prehan lockdown Edinburgh. Rankin said he was approached to write the script for a short film on Rebus in lockdown before he knew the Succession star was involved.
The author said: “I was actually already thinking about how Rebus would be dealing with lockdown, as so many fans were asking me on social media. I didn’t want to write a whole book about Rebus in lockdown but the idea of a five or ten-minute play seemed just about right.
“The nice thing about it was that I knew it didn’t need any action, murder, puzzles or mysteries.
“It was really just going to be a reflective piece about one guy in his late sixties with health issues in a stairwell in Edinburgh.
“What you see is what you get. It’s how I imagine Rebus would be dealing with it and that is not hugely well.
“The opening line is about him missing the pub. He has not got a network of family and friends he can fall back on.
“Rebus is dependent on SiobClarke, which brings him to the realisation that she means a lot more to him than has been evident maybe on the page in the past.
“I don’t think it’s a physical thing. I’ve never thought of the two of them ever becoming lovers or being attracted to each other that way.
“But there is love. She is family to him, almost. That’s how he feels about her. He feels not onlygratitudebutanimmense love.”
“It was really just going to be a reflective piece about one guy in his late sixties with health issues in a stairwell in Edinburgh”
IAN RANKIN