West Lothian to remain under level three rules
Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed that West Lothian will be staying in level three.
The First Minister had previously said this would be her last briefing to local authorities before the new year but she changed her mind due to rising infections.
She said this week that Covid- 19 transmission rates would inform her decision on Tuesday but also voiced concern that infections could increase when restrictions are eased between December 23 and 27.
Ms Sturgeon spoke of “rising and volatile” rates infection in some parts of the country had helped her
come to a final decision. She asked people for patience in what will be a challenging few weeks ahead.
Ms Sturgeon said: “There is light at the end of this tunnel.
“However, as I said a few weeks ago, the road ahead of us may still have dips in it and at times that means that the light will be hard to see.
“The next few weeks may well be one of those dips in the road but even if it is obscured at times, we must remember that the light is definitely there and we will get through this.”
West Lothian Council said last week that the data showed the county should be in level two but the Scottish Government rely on the most up to date figures.
Nicola Sturgeon said this week that relying on such data had proved the Scottish Government to be correct in Edinburgh.
There had been also been calls to place the capital into level two but infection rates have increased again significantly over the past seven days.
The Courier reported that the Public Health Scotland data on Covid-19 in West Lothian shows that transmission rates have fallen and stabilised in recent weeks.
One week ago, the figures as of December 6 showed that West Lothian had 35 new Covid- 19 cases with 199 over a seven-day period.
As of the latest data on December 13, the region has 22 new cases of the virus and 210 over a week.
Throughout November, the county was reporting 300 plus cases per week before the number of infections dipped downwards at the beginning of December, to nearer 200 cases per week.