First Minister ‘will not rush’ ruling on air bridge links
DETAILS of which countries people in Scotland can travel to and from without quarantine are expected tomorrow. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she will not simply rubber-stamp decisions already taken for England by the UK Goverment.
Sturgeon has been urged by airport bosses and others in the aviation and travel industry to come to a decision on so-called “air bridges” with other countries.
The boss of Glasgow Airport, Derek Provan, has called for a four-nations UK approach to reaching agreements with other countries.
Barrhead Travel in Glasgow has said it will be making staff redundant because of the loss of business since lockdown.
The First Minister said the government will not be rushed into announcements or decisions.
Sturgeon said: “I understand the impatience here but we must take these decisions properly.
“If people want a First Minister that is just going to be a rubber stamp for decisions taken elsewhere at any point, but particularly where she has a concern that those decisions may not be absolutely the right ones given the circumstances we face in Scotland, then that is not me.
“We need to do that careful analysis, we need to weigh up the risks and benefits ourselves, and we need to come to a considered view overall.”
The UK Government has listed Spain, France, Italy, Turkey, Greece and Cyprus in its low-risk category for which travellers to and from England do not need to self-isolate on their return.
Dr Gregor Smith, Scotland’s chief medical officer, said the changing global situation had to be carefully assessed.
He said: “As community transmission becomes much less across Scotland, one of the considerations we have got to make is how we prevent fresh importations of Covid-19 from other countries.
“The situation internationally right now is very volatile, we’re seeing a lot of countries – not just across Europe but across the globe – where there are very changing pictures domestically.
“We want to make sure as we take these very important decisions we have got the latest information and data available to us so we can make a very safe decision.”
The latest coronavirus statistics showed there had been one further death in Scotland, taking the total to 2489 after a person has tested positive.
There were two new positive cases recorded taking the total in Scotland since the outbreak began to 18,302.
Sturgeon said there were 699 people currently in hospital with confirmed or suspected coronavirus, which was an increase of 17, but a decrease of eight in confirmed cases.
The statistics show the number in hospital who are confirmed as having coronavirus is 376.
There are 125 care homes in Scotland with a current suspected case of coronavirus among its residents.
There were seven patients in intensive care – a decrease of one.
In the Greater Glasgow and NHS health board area the total number of cases since March now stands at 4862 – up by one on the previous day.
There are currently 202 people in hospitals across the area.