Scotland braced for five tiers of virus restrictions

●Sturgeon indicates tougher rules than England to combat spread of Covid-19

A five -tiered system of coronavirus restrictions is being considered for Scotland and the shutdown of Central Belt pub sand restaurants has been extended by another week.

At the Scottish Government' s daily coronavirus briefing yesterday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said a different regime may be adopted north of the B order to the three -tiered approach operating in England.

The new approach is set to be unveiled today and come into effect on 2 November, with the current restrictions on hospitality extended until the new tiered system comes into effect.

There were 28 more deaths from Covid-19 in Scotland announced yesterday – a five-month high with 1,739 new cases reported.

Ms Sturgeon said the five-tie red approach was" very logical” and already applies in Ireland and New Zealand. There have been concerns the highest level three in England may not be enough to suppress the spread of the virus and a more restrictive tier would be needed.

Similarly the level one south of the B order is the "medium" state of restrictions and Ms Sturgeon said a lower level" close to normality" may be needed.

She said: "We are looking at a five-tier system. Let me explain the logic for five tiers, which I think is very strong. The middle three tiers will be broadly - perhaps not absolutely - but broadly equivalent to the three tiers in England which they describe as medium, high and very high.

"We think we need one at the bottom, which is the level we would be aspiring to this side of getting a vaccine which is closest to normality, which we could reasonably expect to love with until we have a vaccine.

"We think it's important to have that until we all know that we're working towards."

Ms Sturgeon added: “We also think

we need another one at the top because if you remember when England published theirs… the Chief Medical Officer at the time said he thought the top level, the third level of theirs was not enough to necessarily in all circumstances get the virus down. So we think we need one above that.”

This would be closer to “full lockdown” if the continuing spread of the virus became serious enough.

Ms Sturgeon insisted the number of tiers is not as important as applying measures in a “sensible way” that keeps the virus under control.

Keeping schools open will still remain the“default position” of the Government across the new five-tie red approach, the First Min ister said, although a move to “blended” learning at home could not be ruled out if cases spike again.

A fresh package off in anci al support for businesses will also be unveiled today by the Scottish Government detailing the support firms can expect across the new “tiers” if they are forced to close down.

Ms Sturgeon insisted this will be“maximum avail ab le” from Scottish Government coffers, but the “minimum” which business need as she stepped up calls for extra Treasury funding for Scotland to soft en the blow for firms affected.

Meanwhile, a committe of MPs aid the UK and Scottish governments need to work together to" learn the lessons" of the pandemic.

The Scottish Affairs Committee voiced concern that the" lack of regular, timetab led meetings" between minister sin Edinburgh and London could be contri but ing to a" degree of mist rust" between the two administrations, adding that the pandemic has "laid bare the weaknesses built into the UK systems of governance".

In a report looking at the impact of corona virus on Scotland, the committee said the country" was not fully prepared for a pandemic "- despite pandemic planning operations such as Exercise Cygnus in 2016 -and" had not learned lessons from previous exercises in pandemic preparedness when it came to healthcare in Scotland ".

More than 4,300 deaths in Scotland have now been linked to corona virus, with almost half (46 per cent) taking place in care homes.

The committee heard the virus could result in more than £800 million of Scottish food export sales being lost this year.

"Major sector soft he Scottish economy have been left in a state of shock ," its report said.

Par t of any Uk-wide public inquiry into the virus must focus on the impact of the pandemic in Scotland, the MPS recommended.

They made the call as their report considered the working relationship between Ms Sturgeon's administration in Edinburgh and Boris Johnson' s Government in London.

The committee said: "It was clear that effective working relationships between the government so fall four UK nations would be required during the pandemic: a virus does not respect borders.

"We are concerned that a lack of regular, timetabled meetings with no consistent format maybe contributing to a degree of mistrust between the Scottish and UK governments from both sides."

The MPs said it was" not clear to us that Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland has identified a useful role for itself during the pandemic".

The report stressed :" It is imperative that the UK and Scottish governments work together to learn the lessons from the pandemic. These lessons need to be learned and implemented swiftly to ensure that the response to the continued pa nd emic is as effective as it could be."

On the issue of migration, the committee recommended the number of workers allowed to come into the UK as part of the Seasonal Workers Pilot Scheme be increased by at least 50 per cent.

Committee chairman Pete Wishar t said that in both the food and drink and health and social care sectors "pre - existing shortage so for difficulties in recruiting such key workers have contributed to the already enormous impact of the corona virus pandemic".

He said :" Immigration remains a major issue here. Both sectors are reliant on recruitment from abroad, and despite efforts domestic recruitment could not fill the already depleted staffing levels when the virus struck.

"We' re calling for the shortage occupation list for Scotland to cover all health and social care workers and for the UK Government to increase the numbers on the Seasonal Workers Scheme .”

The UK Government' s Scottish Secretary A lister Jack said :" The UK Government is doing everything possible to keep people safe and protect the Scott is he cono my from the shock of the pandemic.

"We will continue to support jobs and businesses in Scotland through the difficult months ahead.

"We have expanded our Job Support Scheme, extended our scheme for selfemployed people and provided additional support for business.

"This direct support to people in Scotland is on top of an £7.2 billion in additional funding to the Scottish Government ."