Sturgeon warns of quarantine for visitors from England
●First Minister challenges Johnson to match her aim of eradicating Covid
Nicola Sturgeon is not ruling out quarantining people from other parts of the UK as she raised concerns that England may not be trying to eliminate coronavirus.
The First Minister suggested that Boris Johnson may be allowing “higher levels” of the virus to circulate south of the Border, while Scotland moves towards elimination.
There are no plans for quarantine at the moment, but Ms Sturgeon warned that it could be introduced in the future if case numbers north and south of the Border continue to diverge.
The prospect met with a warning from political opponents that any move could “drive a wedge” between Scotland and the rest of the UK.
It came as Scotland recorded its fourth day in a row without any Covid deaths. Local flare-ups in England has seen the city of Leicester placed in local lockdown to control an outbreak.
Ms Sturgeon said: “I would really welcome a statement from the Prime
Minister that England’s strategy is about trying to eliminate the virus as well, as opposed to what appears to me to be perhaps letting it circulate at higher levels as long as it doesn’t threaten to overwhelm the National Health Service.
“I’m not trying to be overly critical here, I’m just being very clear with people what the Scottish Government’s strategy is, which is to get to elimination if we possibly can.
“But also being clear that – if that is our strategy and other countries or other parts of the UK have a different approach, which might mean infection levels are higher – then clearly we then have to consider how we mitigate against our infection levels rising.”
Ms Sturgeon said there were “no plans” at the moment to introduce quarantine from people entering Scotland from the rest of the UK.
But as numbers continue to fall in Scotland, she said the authorities must be alert to cases “coming into” the country and the measure could not be ruled out. A flare-up in cases may jeopardise the full-time return of schools, she added.
“If we did see an ongoing divergence between infection rates in Scotland and other parts of the UK from a public health perspective, we would require to give consideration around how we mitigate that and guard against infection rates rising in Scotland as a result,” Ms Sturgeon said.
She insisted that this was not a political or constitutional matter. “I would ask people to look at examples from other parts of the world,” she said.
“Right now I believe if you’re travelling to New York or New Jersey or certain other states in the US, there are quarantine or other arrangements in place. Similarly in Germany, for example, there are arrangements to impose some kind of restrictions like that in terms of travel between one lander (state) and another.
“This is something that other parts of the world are already doing or considering.”
The First Minister said she hoped the need for quarantine would not arise.
But she said: “From a public health perspective we have to be able to consider all options if it is required to try to stop a resurgence of infection in Scotland.”
The declaration comes after Professor Devi Sridhar, who has played a key role in helping Ms Sturgeon formulate her Covid-19 strategy, said Scotland was trying to eliminate the virus, but England’s strategy was to “reopen as soon as possible”.
It emerged yesterday that pubs and restaurants in Leicester may stay closed for two more weeks due to a surge in coronavirus cases. The city’s mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said the UK Government had recommended existing restrictions are maintained for a further fortnight.
The city could “remain restricted for two weeks longer than the rest of the country”, he said yesterday.
Public Health England and local authorities had the power to bring in a local lockdown. There have been 2,987 positive cases in Leicester since the pandemic began, with 866 of those (29 per cent) reported in the two weeks to 23 June.
But Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw raised concerns over the prospect of quarantine for UK visitors to Scotland.
“The First Minister needs to rule out any attempt to close off Scotland from the rest of the UK,” he said. “While it may be that localised lockdowns will be needed to deal with individual flare-ups over the months ahead, they should be handled as such.
“This should not be used as an issue to drive a wedge between Scotland and England.”
Ms Sturgeon said five more people tested positive for the virus since Sunday, taking the total to 18,241.
A total of 740 patients were in Scottish hospitals with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, down 38 in 24 hours. Of these, ten were in intensive care, a fall of three.