Covid spread not slowing enough to ease restrictions in time for Christmas
p a r t i c u l a r l y E a s t D u n b a r - tonshire and West Dunbartonshire actually, around an 1 1 p e r c e n t i n c r e a s e i n Ea s t Dunbartonshire in cases over the last week and 12 per cent in west Dunbartonshire, and even in Glasgow Cit y it's not going down, in fact there is a ver y small increase between the last two weeks.
"We're not pushing the numbers down quickly enough and certainly the R number is still above one including in those parts of the west of Scotland.
"If we see these numbers now they are baked into the system and it means that they will follow through to ICU admissions and sadly deaths a number of weeks from now. "We really need to get those numbers down.
"I think also the Scottish Government will be looking ahead to the holiday season and the pressure they are under. Quite understandably, people want to see their friends and families, even just for a few days, over that period and I think, to make that possible, I think we need to be making better progress in some parts of Scotland than we currently are."
Prof Bauld said we are in a better position than in the spring as more is known about the virus and better treatments are available such as the steroid dexa
methasone, while survival has increased by about a third.
Asked what needs to change to give leeway around Christmas and whether we should brace ourselves for further restrictions, Prof Bauld said the fourweek lockdown which England is going through "will have made a difference".
It came as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said a relaxation of the Covid rules to allow Scots to enjoy family gatherings over Christmas must not lead to a spike in cases and "loss of life" in January.
The First Minister said ministers will take into account the "reality of Christmas" as they consider the prospect of guidance to allow more get-togethers over the festive period.
A four-nations approach is being devised between Scotland and the rest of the UK administrations, Ms Sturgeon said as she addressed MSPS.
"C h r i s t ma s i s r e a l l y - i t ' s i m p o r t a n t f o r a l l o f u s ,"
Ms Sturgeon said.
M s S t u r g e o n h e l d "f o u r - nations discussions" with the UK Government and leaders of the Welsh and Northern Ireland administrations last night and Christmas was on the agenda. Talks will continue in the weeks ahead.
"What's really important here is that we strike the right balance," she said.
"Firstly we've got to recognise that people want to spend time with their loved ones at Christmas. I'm no different to everybody else in that respect.
"We also have to recognise that we've got to give people confidence in any rules and restrictions that are in place and encourage maximum compliance and that means recognising the reality of the Christmas period and we all want to get to that position.
"But we also have to be sensible. We have to think if people are going to be interacting more over Christmas, what are we advising people to do after Christmas, in January, for example, to minimise the risk.
"We just have to make sure that for all of us being able to enjoy Christmas a bit more is not going to lead to loss of life or illness in January or February that could otherwise be avoided.
"I wish probably on this more than any other aspects there was an easy answer, but there's not. But we need to try to get to a sensible position.”
Groups representing S cottish businesses have also written council leaders calling for town and city centre parking charges to be waived ahead of Christmas.
In a joint letter to local government umbrella organisation Cosla, they say the move will help companies struggling with declining footfall caused by the pandemic.
Written by Scottish Tourism Alliance chief executive Marc Crothall, it is signed by eight further groups including the Scottish Retail Consor tium, the Federation of Small Businesses Scotland and the Chambers of Commerce.
They say travel restrictions are preventing many people from going to their destination of choice for shopping or entertainment.
“Removing as many barriers as possible to enable those businesses who believe they can trade in a meaningful and profitable way must be a priority for local and central government,” the letter says.
“The cost of parking in our towns and cities is viewed by a number of business organisations as a major barrier to trade and we would therefore ask that consideration is given to removing all local authority parking charges in the run-up to Christmas to create the stimulation needed to bring life back to our local economies.
It describes parking charges as “regressive” and claims they “discourage all from travelling safely to local shops and restaurants.”
A Cosla spokesman said: “We recognise the impact of the pandemic and current travel restrictions on the Scottish tourism and retail industr y, with businesses in our towns and city centres particularly affected.
“Covid-19 has also put substantial pressures on local government budgets and led to significant income losses across key council services, including parking charges.”
To date, 1, 207 people are being treated for Covid-19 in hospital, 28 fewer than yesterday, and 8 people are in intensive care, an increase of 5 more from yesterday, having recently tested positive for the virus.
A total of 77,660 in Scotland are confirmed to have had the virus since the start of the outbreak in March, according to government figures.