DON’T RUIN 100 DAYS OF SACRIFICE
Sturgeon hails success in virus fight but warns threat remains
NICOLA Sturgeon has praised Scots for their 100 days of ‘sacrifice’ which has put the country on the brink of defeating coronavirus – but warned a ‘very real danger’ remains.
The First Minister compared the current situation to people sheltering from a thunderstorm and stressed that the virus could still ‘come back hard’.
She marked the 100th day since lockdown by warning that, as restrictions are gradually eased, this remains a ‘dangerous moment’ in the battle against Covid-19.
It comes as Scots returned to the high streets in their droves on Monday after non-essential shops were given the green light to reopen.
Shoppers thronged popular spots such as Princess Street in Edinburgh and Argyle Street in Glasgow, in stark contrast to the empty streets and closed shops months ago.
Miss Sturgeon said continued progress is needed to prevent the threat of local lockdowns, as seen in Leicester this week.
The latest Scottish figures out yesterday showed the number of people in hospital with suspected Covid-19 symptoms has risen by 145, to 885, although confirmed cases fell by three.
A total of 19 people were in intensive care, up nine on the previous day. After four consecutive days of no deaths, a further three were recorded yesterday. At her daily media briefing, Miss Sturgeon said there was now a ‘genuine chance to come as close as is possible to eliminating the virus in Scotland’.
She said this would allow people to see more of their friends, allow the economy to reopen more fully and schools to reopen full-time.
However, she warned: ‘This is a moment of great opportunity. But it is also a time of very real danger.’
Miss Sturgeon said: ‘The figures in Scotland we are seeing right now are a result of the decisions and the sacrifices all of us have made over the past 100 days.’
But she added: ‘We are reopening more public services and more businesses. We will soon start travelling a bit more and we will also start seeing a bit more of our family and friends – including in outdoor pubs and restaurants.
‘That is absolutely right – it is justified by the progress we have made. And it’s important, of course, to get our economy going again. But by opening up a bit more, at a time when the daily statistics are looking so positive, there is a real risk that people will let down their guard.
‘There is a danger that it will seem as though life is getting back to normal.
‘I want to stress right now, life can’t and shouldn’t get completely back to normal yet, because the virus is still there.’
In an interview in Holyrood magazine, she also suggested that local lockdowns may be needed for the virus in future. Miss Sturgeon said: ‘I do think we can get to a point where we have suppressed it sufficiently so that you can deal with outbreaks or clusters in a very targeted way, which means the population at large can go about their business pretty much as normal and if you then get a cluster in Glasgow, for example, you deal with that.’
But she said she does not want a ‘cycle of local lockdowns’.
Meanwhile, retailers said the reopening of shops on Monday was not a ‘magic bullet’ for the hard-hit sector.
Industry figures show footfall slumped 53 per cent across the UK in the second week of shops being reopen in England and Northern Ireland compared with the year before. Helen Dickinson, of the British Retail Consortium, said: ‘Low consumer confidence and social distancing mean footfall is unlikely to return to precrisis levels any time soon.’
David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC), said: ‘These figures suggest that without a firm date for the reopening of Scottish malls and a stimulus package to revive consumer confidence, any retail recovery is likely to be slow.’
The SRC also warned making masks compulsory could create ‘flashpoints’ if shop staff have to enforce the rule. Miss Sturgeon is due to make an announcement on this tomorrow.
‘Real risk that people will let down their guard’