The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Leitch ‘hopeful’ for normal Christmas
National clinical director Jason Leitch says he is “hopeful” a traditional Christmas will not have to be cancelled again in 2021 amid rising Covid-19 cases in Scotland and fears over how the NHS will cope.
People were allowed to gather in small groups on Christmas Day last year before the country went into another lockdown – but were encouraged not to mix at all where possible.
Mr Leitch – who warned Scots to prepare for a “digital Christmas” in 2020 – said he hoped that would not be the case this year on BBC Radio Scotland yesterday.
He told host Stephen Jardine: “We cancelled... the family gatherings around Christmas, which was horrible.
“I am hopeful that we won’t have to do that again.
“There is a bit of a storm coming... We’re not sure what flu will look like.
“The southern hemisphere, Australia and New Zealand, has had a relatively mild flu season.
“We’re hopeful that we will also have a mild flu season, but we cannot guarantee it. It will be stopped by the same things that stop Covid.
“The winter for infectious disease is always tough. Our hospitals are prepared.
“The vaccination programme is about to begin, and I would encourage everybody to get their flu vaccine.”
Meanwhile Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said there is no money available for business support or furlough if Scotland imposes another lockdown unless the UK Government agrees to fund it.
Under questioning from Holyrood’s Finance Committee, Ms Forbes stressed that government ministers have not been discussing plans to reimpose restrictions.
She said: “The pressures on the Scottish budget are such that we really, really need the sort of structural supports for businesses to be in place – furlough, self-employed income support – if we were to find ourselves going into another lockdown”.
“I am not sitting on funds right now that I could deploy to support businesses. We would need additional help from the UK Government.”
She added: “The Scottish Government’s resources are just not sufficient to help businesses to the level that they need to be supported through furlough and self-employed income support.
Jillian Evans, head of health intelligence at NHS Grampian, says modelling suggests worse is still to come in terms of the virus.
She told Radio Scotland: “There’s every chance, and very likely, that case numbers will continue to rise unless there are some changes to restrictions.”
Ms Evans says there are limited ways now to keep the virus under control – such as self-isolating, testing and vaccination.
“I am really worried that things are going to get worse before they get better,” she added.
Scotland has seen record numbers of new daily cases in the last week, with nearly 38,000 new positive test results reported in the last seven days.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says the country is in a “fragile” place, refusing last week to rule out the need for new lockdown measures.
Mr Leitch was also quizzed about the isolation rules in force in schools, which relaxed to allow close contacts to remain in class.
Describing the decisions for politicians as “finely balanced”, he said: “Local public health leaders can make different choices if they are worried about a particular school.”