SO MUCH FOR LOCKSTEP OUT OF LOCKDOWN
PM plans to ease restrictions but Sturgeon brands new virus message ‘vague’ and urges Scots to stay at home
SCOTLAND will not follow Boris Johnson’s first ‘careful steps’ out of lockdown amid fears lives could be put at risk. The Prime Minister ditched his ‘stay at home’ message to the public and encouraged vast swathes of the workforce to get back to work.
But Nicola Sturgeon vowed to block his new ‘stay alert, control the virus, save lives’ message from being used in Scotland and said she would not significantly loosen restrictions immediately.
It means that there will now be different approaches across the four home nations – despite the Scottish Secretary saying last week that Scotland should leave lockdown ‘in lockstep with the UK as a
‘We must not squander our progress’
whole’. The different approaches led to concerns about ‘confusion’ for employers and their staff in Scotland.
Mr Johnson used last night’s televised address to spell out his ‘road map for reopening society’. In a bid to restart the economy, he said those who cannot work from home, such as construction and manufacturing staff, will be ‘actively encouraged to go to work’ from today.
From Wednesday, people in England will be able to spend time outdoors for leisure, including sunbathing, playing sport with family members and driving to beauty spots, as long as they abide by social distancing rules.
But Miss Sturgeon said the only immediate change in Scotland will be to drop the ‘once a day’ restriction on outdoor exercise from today. She said she will consider whether to relax further measures - such as allowing garden centres and recycling centres to reopen and some staff to return to outdoor workplaces - at the end of this week. In other developments yesterday: A further 269 people died of Covid-19 in the
UK, taking the total to 31,855, while the death toll in Scotland increased by 10 to 1,857;
The number of people in intensive care in Scotland with coronavirus fell by seven to 82 yesterday, while numbers in hospital with symptoms fell by 101 to 1, 8 ;
Airlines threatened to ground flights in response to plans to impose a 1 -day quarantine on anyone flying into Britain;
Mr Johnson held talks with Emmanuel Macron about both countries exempting each other from quarantine plans, opening up the possibility of holidays in France;
UK ministers prepared to publish guidance advising people to wear face coverings on public transport, shops and offices;
The Daily Mail and its sister papers gave away £3million worth of free adverts to small businesses;
Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg donated £200,000 to Mail Force drive.
Mr Johnson’s ‘conditional plan’ for easing lockdown was more limited than some had expected. Many elements of his approach will not apply in Scotland .
Mr Johnson said: ‘It would be madness now
to throw away that achievement by allowing a second spike. We must continue to control the virus and save lives.’
In Scotland, the First Minister said the only change would be allowing people to exercise outdoors more than once a day.
However, she said she would consider whether to extend the range of ‘permissible outdoor activities’ later this week.
Miss Sturgeon said: ‘We must not squander our progress by easing up too soon or by sending mixed messages that result in people thinking it’s okay to ease up now.
‘Let me be very blunt about the consequences if we were do that people will die unnecessarily and, instead of being able to loosen restrictions hopefully in the near future, we will be faced instead with having to tighten them.’
Dr Liz Cameron, the chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said: ‘We urge the Scottish Government to update their framework for decision making to set out a return to work so businesses in Scotland do not fall behind their counterparts in England.
‘There is also a risk that variations in the approach between the nations will inevitably cause confusion for business owners and employees.’