Sturgeon: Scotland could go back into lockdown
FM tells of ‘anxiety’ as cases up 160
NICOLA Sturgeon has warned Scotland may have to go back into lockdown, with a ban on indoor gatherings, as the number of Covid cases jumped to a three-month high.
The First Minister said she felt a “greater sense of anxiety” than she had in months after the number of infections rose 160 overnight, the biggest increase since mid-may.
She said the level was “undoubtedly a concern” and the country was now in a “very fragile situation”, with transmission of the virus increasing as lockdown restrictions eased.
She said the assumption had to be that deaths would also increase, and it was “dangerous” complacency to think that the threat from Covid had diminished since the outbreak began.
Asked at the daily briefing if the ban on indoor gatherings could return, she said: “Yes, there is a risk of that. I fervently hope we can avoid that, but I can’t rule out that possibility.”
However, she also said the Government would strive to re-impose restrictions in as “narrowly focused” a way as possible.
The warnings came amid jarring changes to the guidance on dealing with coronavirus.
As face masks became mandatory for secondary pupils in corridors and on school transport, gyms and indoor swimming pools were allowed to re-open, and youth groups and motherand-baby clubs allowed to restart.
Looking ahead to the return of universities and colleges later this month, Education Secretary John Swinney also said he had a particular concern about Freshers’ Week.
He warned new students not to expect the boisterous rite of passage of previous years.
The 160 new cases followed 123 new cases announced on Sunday, bringing the total to 20,478.
However, Ms Sturgeon said the number of positive cases as a percentage of people tested was holding fairly steady, at 0.9 per cent.
Of the 160 new cases, almost half, 69, were in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 27 were in Lanarkshire, 18 in Lothian, nine in Forth Valley and eight in Ayrshire and Arran.
The number in hospital was up seven to 258, with five in intensive care, unchanged on the previous day.
There were no deaths overnight.
Ms Sturgeon said the “quite high” numbers over the weekend were partly a result of more tests being conducted.
However, many of the 22 recent cases in Ayrshire seemed linked to indoor gatherings the previous weekend.
She said: “The numbers of cases we are seeing right now is a reminder to all of us that the virus is still a very real risk. We are right now in a very fragile situation.
“The transmission of the virus is increasing again. It would not take much right now for the virus to get a grip of us again.
“Every single one of us has a responsibility to try to stop that happening..
“I have always tried to be frank with you about my assessments and feelings about the situation that we are in, which is why I feel able to say to you today – and feel that it is important I say to you – that I feel a greater sense of anxiety today than I have done any time probably for the last couple of months.”
Indoor gatherings are currently limited to eight people from three households, with the police empowered to break up gatherings of more than 16.
Asked if the ban on indoor gatherings could return, Ms Sturgeon said it could.
Warning against complacency, she said: “We, in truth, don’t know yet if this rise in cases, whether it will or will not, lead to an increase in serious illness or death. We should assume that it will to some extent.
“That underlines the need for us to act in a way that stops it transmitting in the first place. I can’t stress enough how important all this is. That, unfortunately, is going to be the case for some time.
“If we all do these things voluntarily then we have a really good fighting chance, backed up by Test and Protect, to keep this under control.
“But if we don’t then unfortunately we may end up back in more formal restrictions being imposed. So, in a sense, it’s down to all of us.”
Ms Sturgeon also announced the 2 Sisters food processing plant in Coupar Angus, where 164 employees and 24 of their contacts have tested positive, would reopen today.
She cited the plant closure as an example of the “tailored” responses likely in the coming months instead of a “one-size-fits-all approach”.
She said: “I think we’ve got be increasingly careful about using lockdown as some kind of blanket term, a one-size-fits-all approach.
“We have to take steps if necessary to deal with outbreaks and those steps have to be tailored to the specific causes and circumstances of outbreaks. So we won’t see, necessarily, the same approaches being taken in every area.”
As Police Scotland reported large increases in drug deaths and online child abuse during the pandemic, Ms Sturgeon said she would ponder the side-effects of imposing the lockdown the “for the rest of my life”.
NHS Forth Valley last night said it had identified five Covid-19 cases associated with five businesses: Village Inn, Tesco and GS Meldrum
Newsagent in Dunblane; Bridge of Allan Sports Club and Mcdonald’s, Drip Road, Stirling.