The green blue line: Rookies drafted in to enforce lockdown
Police Scotland send new recruits on to the streets
Rookie police officers with only two weeks’ training will be enforcing Scotland’s Covid- 19 lockdown from tomorrow.
The new recruits, who only began their probationary period at the Scottish Police College a fortnight ago, are being sent on to the streets as hundreds of Police Scotland officers remain in self-isolation.
The emergency deployment by the national force comes after the blackest day yet in Britain as a further 708 deaths were announced yesterday, including a five- year- old child, the country’s youngest victim. It was the highest daily increase so far, bringing the UK death toll to 4,313. There was a glimmer of hope as the number of new infections rose by 3,735 to 41,903 – the smallest increase in four days. In Scotland, the number of people who have died from the virus rose to 218 yesterday, an increase of 46 from Friday. However, the official figures do not yet include the deaths of 13 residents of a single Glasgow nursing home, which have been linked to the virus.
Yesterday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon posted a message of sympathy for residents and families at the Burlington Court home, in Glasgow, saying: “We are working hard to control this virus and will offer all the support we can to this and other care homes. I am thinking too of the staff of this and all care homes. They are doing a necessary but very tough job and I am so grateful to each and every one.”
The number of victims around the world has doubled over the last week from 30,000 to more than 60,000. In the US, Donald Trump warned of hard days ahead: “This will probably be the toughest week, between this week and next week. And there will be a lot of death, unfortunately.”
Boris Johnson’s pregnant fiancée, CarrieSymonds, revealed she had developed symptoms despite efforts by the couple to stay apart after the Prime Minister caught the virus and went into isolation. Ms Symonds posted on social media that she had spent the last week in bed but was feeling
better. She said: “I haven’t needed to be tested and, after seven days of rest, I feel stronger and I’m on the mend.”
The Prime Minister was due to exit quarantine in Downing Street on Friday, seven days after testing positive, but he continues to have a high temperature.
In Scotland, the testing of frontline NHS staff is being ramped up with a huge testing station – staffed by volunteers from Boots – opening today as part of a drive to test health service staff who are self- isolating to allow more to return to work.
In other developments, Cabinet Secretary Michael Gove said production lines for d e s p e r a t e l y- n e e d e d NHS ventilators were being opened by firms including Plexus and Diamedica in Kelso, with manufacturing starting within days. More are being sourced from abroad. The charity Age Scotland a l so ex pres s ed co nc er n about the plight of elderly people living in their own homes, as calls to its helpline rose tenfold from an average of 70 calls a day to 700. The charity has now launched a fundraising appeal to expand its helpline work.
Brian Sloan, Age Scotland’s chief executive, said: “These are very difficult times for everyone, but we are seeing first- hand that older people are particularly badly affected by the pandemic. “From a lack of access to food and medication, getting the social care that they need, understanding how the latest news impacts them, or to have a friendly chat, older people have been relying on us to help. This is not a crisis that will be over in days or weeks. We are going to be battling the effects of this pandemic for many months. “The longer it goes on the harder life is going to be for older people, particularly those who are alone and in danger of becoming chronically lonely. We need to be here for them. We would urge anyone who can, to contribute towards helping older people in Scotland.” The UK Government has urged all over- 70s to stay at home, which the charity says has led to tens of thousands of older people in Scotland growing more isolated and struggling to carry out everyday tasks, such as shopping for food and picking up medication. Meanwhile, we can reveal how a Scotland-wide training exercise exposed worrying gaps in how authorities were preparing for a flu pandemic five years ago. Exercise Silver Swan flagged up key areas for health authorities to address, including obtaining appropriate and adequate supplies of personal protection equipment and antiviral drugs, and coping with staff absences. Yesterday also saw the announcement of around £700,000 of f un d i n g to help museums and galleries which have felt the serious impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Museums Galleries Scotland has suspended regular funding programmes until further notice to allow for flexibility during the uncertainty brought by the Covid-19 outbreak.
The majority, £400,000, will support independent museums that care for recognised collections with the remaining £300,000 supporting nonrecognised collections. Lucy Casot, chief executive of Museums Galleries Scotland, said: “The funding from the Scottish Government will be a welcome lifeline to those who need it at this time.” Most Scots seemed to have heeded the appeals to stay at home yesterday after the authorities voiced fears that some might flout the lockdown restrictions.
And, in a sign that the panic-buying of recent weeks is now easing, Aldi has said it will lift purchase restrictions on almost all of its products from tomorrow.