The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
FM looks at travel ban to protect Highlands
Nicola Sturgeon is considering a Highland travel ban for people from areas with high Covid19 rates in the central belt.
At her daily coronavirus briefing, the first minister said her “ver y strong” advice at the moment was for people from places like Glasgow not to go north.
And when asked about future travel restrictions, she raised the prospect of compulsory bans to stop people moving from central belt hotspots to northern areas.
Hospitality trade representatives were dismayed at a possibility of outlawing travel to the Highlands warning it could ruin many businesses.
This week the first minister signalled she was examining plans that could see people fined for entering Scotland from other UK Covid hotspots.
Ms Sturgeon said she was considering a legally enforceable cross- border travel ban and wrote to Boris Johnson seeking an urgent meeting of officials to ensure “coherence” across the UK.
The Welsh government has threatened people from high-risk parts of Scotland and England with £ 50 fines if they travel there, an approach Ms Sturgeon said she backed.
During her briefing, Ms Sturgeon revealed Mr Johnson had replied to her letter to agree to fournations talks on the issue.
But she said the Scottish Government would look at what steps it wanted to take in parallel with the cross-UK approach.
The first minister said she was “weighing up” whether that would involve putting in place regulations, “coupled with enforcement”, to prevent travel from high to low-prevalence areas.
When asked if she was looking at possibly banning people from areas “such as” Greater Glasgow and Clyde from visiting the Highlands, the first minister suggested this was being considered.
Ms Sturgeon said: “Any travel restrictions, should you decide that they have to be mandatory, is not just about cross-border, which is why I keep saying this is not some constitutional or political point.
“It is about high to low prevalence and if that’s within Scotland or within England or within Wales then you have to consider that there. But equally you have to consider it if it is be tween any of these countries.
“Right now my advice to people in Greater Glasgow and Clyde is not to go to the Highlands unless you really need to. We didn’t go as far as saying to people over the October holidays – if you’ve got a break planned, cancel it because we are trying to strike as much balance here as we can.
“But my advice now to people in Greater Glasgow and Clyde is that if you don’t need to travel outside Greater Glasgow and Clyde, don’t do it. That is advice and guidance, but it is there and it is very strong for the reasons everybody understands.”
The most recent data for this week shows there were 67 positive cases reported in the NHS Highland area in the last seven days.
That compares favourably with the 2,349 reported in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 1 , 74 3 in NHS Lanarkshire and 960 in NHS Lothian for the same period.
Those three health boards, plus NHS Ayrshire and Arran and NHS Forth Valley, have had extra anti- Covid restrictions.
But Willie Mac leod, executive director, Scotland, of UK Hospitality, said anti- Covid measures were already causing harm.
“The restrictions on businesses are onerous enough and to exacerbate the problem by imposing a travel ban – for many businesses that are trying to trade at this end-of-season point – the resultant reduction in business that would undoubtedly happen would be too much for them,” Mr Macleod said.
“I also wonder how a travel ban might equitably be enforced. Hotels that are open outwith the five protected areas say they have been suffering significant cancellations – not just for rooms but their food and drinks businesses too.”
Tory Highland councillor Isabelle Mackenzie said: “One minute we are saying we want to support local businesses and then you are then having a travel ban.
“Businesses in the Highlands are being affected, because people are being told not to travel.
“If the virus moves because people are behaving in a certain way you want to mitigate against that. But how do you police it?”