New fears of local lockdowns as cases soar to 4-month high
Rowers are all at sea again... suitably socially distanced, of course
Virus surges again amid calls to keep schools open
SCOTLAND yesterday recorded the most coronavirus cases on a single day in nearly four months.
In further signs the virus is resurgent, 208 positive tests were confirmed.
It was the highest daily total since May 8, and comes amid fears that restrictions introduced in and around Glasgow last week could be tightened further – or extended to other parts of the country.
In total, 1,079 people have tested positive in the past seven days, more than double the figure of 507 in the previous week.
Amid growing concerns about the introduction of local lockdowns, parents yesterday called for school closures to be taken off the table in order to try to prevent a repeat of this year’s exams fiasco.
The 208 positive cases – including repeat tests – accounted for 2.3 per cent of the 18,418 tests carried out in the 24 hours to yesterday morning.
Nicola Sturgeon said: ‘Today’s numbers show a continued increase, including in the percentage positive. While this reflects the substantial opening up of the economy, it reminds us of the need to deploy strong countermeasures.’
She said a new mobile phone contact tracing app – which uses Bluetooth technology to alert users who have been close to someone who tests positive for the virus – will be launched in ‘the next few days’ to ensure a wider range of contacts are notified.
The latest figures show that, despite the big rise in cases, the number of people in hospital fell by six yesterday, to 245, while those in intensive care increased by two, to four. There were no new deaths of people who had tested positive for the virus in hospital, meaning that figure remains at 2,496 since the beginning of the outbreak.
The First Minister said: ‘So far the rise in cases is not matched by a rise in hospital/ICU admissions/deaths. That’s good news but we mustn’t be complacent about it. It could be a time lag – some countries, eg France, that have had cases rising for longer, are seeing these indicators rise now too.’
Greater Glasgow and Clyde accounted for the most new cases, with 92 positive tests from the region.
Extra measures were introduced in the local authority areas of Glasgow, East Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire, including new restrictions on visiting people in their home.
The latest big rise in cases will add to fears that further restrictions could be introduced. NHS Lanarkshire has recorded another 30 cases, up from 20 on Saturday and the 16 announced on Friday when it warned the region was close to having to reintroduce restrictions.
NHS Grampian, where the Aberdeen bar cluster was identified last month, has recorded an increase of 14 new cases – a sharp rise from the two announced on Saturday.
A total of 18 positive tests were registered by NHS Lothian, there were 11 cases in Ayrshire and Arran, four in the Borders, three in Dumfries and Galloway, eight in Fife, 14 in Forth Valley, six in the Highlands, and eight in Tayside. There were no new cases in Shetland, Orkney or the Western Isles.
Meanwhile, the leader of Glasgow City Council had to apologise after appearing to break social distancing rules while drinking with friends.
Pictures in the Sunday Mail showed Susan Aitken drinking with three colleagues in a city
bar. On Saturday, Scottish Government national clinical director Jason Leitch issued advice that people in bars must ‘physically distance from everyone’ outside their household.
On Thursday, Miss Aitken, 48, begged people to ‘please, please’ follow guidelines to avoid further measures such as schools closing.
An SNP spokesman said: ‘While this was within the rules, Susan is clear that as leader of the council she doesn’t want to leave any room for doubt in the current situation, and is sorry it caused concern.’
Amid growing fears of local lockdowns in areas with large numbers of cases, the Us For Them Scotland parents’ group yesterday called for schools to be exempt from further restrictions.
Jo Bisset, organiser for Us for Them Scotland, said: ‘We saw both here and in England the impact the exams chaos had on children and their families. But that will be repeated next year if schools are forced to close for weeks on end.
‘Schools should be included on a list of things considered critical infrastructure to ensure they stay open. Parents are increasingly worried about the noises coming from government and councils – they seem all too happy to close the school gates for weeks on end.’
Education Secretary John Swinney yesterday stressed that blended learning – where pupils have to split their time between the classroom and home working – ‘remains a necessary contingency plan should the virus get out of control again at any point’.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We do not want to impose local restrictions if we can avoid it. However, in some circumstances they will be required in order to suppress the virus and keep localised outbreaks or clusters under control in a targeted and less restrictive way. Our priority is reducing the chain of transmission in the community and keeping schools open.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said there was ‘no evidence’ of transmission of the virus within schools but said there were cases linked to St Aloysius’ College in Glasgow, Braidbar Primary School in East Renfrewshire and Johnstone High School in Renfrewshire. A health board spokesman said: ‘Apart from those who are identified as close contacts, all other staff and pupils can continue to attend as normal.’
It was also confirmed yesterday only one of the 22 walk-in Covidtesting centres planned for Scottish universities has opened so far.
Meanwhile, police said a 56-yearold man was arrested and charged in relation to ‘an unlawful parade to George Square’ in Glasgow yesterday. Some 300 people attended the anti-lockdown event.