The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Hogmanay celebrations: Sturgeon says there will be no special exemption
Scotland’s traditional Hog ma nay celebrations have effectively been cancelled after the first minister admitted the night will not be given special exemption from coronavirus restrictions this festive period.
It comes as the four nations of the United Kingdom continue to work on plans allowing a “relaxation” of the rules in order for families to meet on Christmas Day.
Ms Sturgeon said it would be too difficult to organise for both and ruled out people being able to “pick ‘n’ mix” between the two.
Hog ma nay and New Year’s Day are recognised holidays in Scotland, unlike in other parts of the country.
Popular turn-of-the-year traditions, including the Ferry Dook and the Comrie Flambeaux festival, have already been cancelled as a result of the pandemic.
Ms Sturgeon said it is likely extended household bubbles will be allowed over Christmas.
She said decisions to ease restrictions over the festive period are “particularly difficult” to balance and discussions between the four nations had made “progress towards a common position across the UK”.
“We are not trying to get an agreement for Hogmanay and New Year’s Day,” she said.
“The tradition of Hogmanay and New Year’s Day dinner is a bit more established in Scotland than other parts of the UK, but I do not expect we will be announcing relaxations over the new year period.
“Christmas will be hard enough. Why Christmas and not New Year? Well, I think Christmas is a more important time of year for kids, for most of us it is still the time when families will not want to have someone on their own.”
She added: “There is an obvious desire to see loved ones at Christmas, I think we all feel that very strongly.
“There’s also a lot of anxiety about the potential risks associated with that, particularly at a time when w e’r e starting to see, perhaps, the end of this pandemic loom on the horizon.
“So we’re trying as hard as we can to reach a sensible balance, although it is possible – likely, in fact – that some households may be able to form slightly larger bubbles with each other for a short period over Christmas.
“We’re considering this because we recognise that isolation and loneliness can hit people particularly hard over the Christmas period.”
A total of 949 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Scotland in the past 24 hours, with 89,310 people having now tested positive, up from 88,361 the day before.
The daily test positivity rate is 8.6%, up from 5.4% on the previous day.
Of the new cases, there are 370 in Greater Glasgow and C lyde , 190 in Lanarkshire, 95 in Lothian
and 83 in Ayrshire and Arran. Angus recorded 22 new cases, Dundee 16, Fife 60 and Perth and Kinross 17.
In Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen, 20 cases each have been reported, 13 in Highland, two in Moray and none in Na h-Eileanan Siar, Orkney and Shetland.
There are 1,208 people in hospital confirmed to have the virus, up by 38 in 24 hours. Of these, 84 are in intensive care, down by 11.
No deaths of confirmed Covid-19 patients have been recorded in the past 24 hours and the number of fatalities under this measure remains at 3,503.