Lockdown lift postponed for another three weeks at least
Quarantine list of countries also updated
FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon has postponed any further moves out of lockdown for another three weeks.
The restrictions on household visits remain in place.
The number of new daily positive cases reported across Scotland was 668. There were 244 in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area.
Sturgeon said three people had died in the past 24 hours after testing positive for Covid- 19 – taking Scotland’s death toll to 2522 people.
There were 154 people in hospital – an increase of 15 – and 17 in intensive care.
The R number is possibly as high as 1.7, and Sturgeon said that was partly due to the impact of student outbreaks at universities, with Glasgow campuses hit hard.
The First Minister was announcing the outcome of the latest three- weekly review of the Scotland- wide restrictions that mean no one is to visit another household.
She said: “We are postponing the route map changes that were due on October 5.”
Meanwhile, Turkey and Poland have been added to the list of countries where people must quarantine when they arrive in Scotland.
Poland has been included after it was decided that rates of the virus have increased, while in Turkey it has emerged that positive cases have been underreported.
It will affect anyone thinking of going to either country over the October school break either for a holiday or to visit family.
The Caribbean islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba have also been put on the quarantine list.
At the same time, restrictions have been lifted for Madeira and the Azores.
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “Although we are lifting quarantine restrictions on those travelling from the Azores or Madeira, in line with the public health data we have received, people should think long and hard before choosing to travel abroad, particularly during the forthcoming October break. “At present all foreign travel carries a risk. Quarantine requirements could be imposed on those arriving on holiday abroad, just as we may make the decision to impose the same in Scotland.
“People should think very hard before committing to non- essential foreign travel.
“Imposing quarantine restrictions on those arriving in the UK is our first defence in managing the risk of importing cases from communities with high risks of transmission. This is vital in our efforts to suppress the spread of the virus in Scotland.
“We continue to be in regular discussions with the other three governments in the UK.”
The First Minister has also confirmed that the closure of a Covid19 testing lab in Edinburgh had been planned since it opened, amid criticism from opposition MSPs about the “shocking” move.
The temporary lab at Edinburgh University was opened in April to boost testing capacity in the NHS Lothian health board area, but it was “put into hibernation” in July when it was no longer needed.