Do not travel to Edinburgh stores, Sturgeon warns Glasgow shoppers
The First Minister told Glaswegians and other Scots in a “blunt” message not to go into Edinburgh for non- essential shopping as level four lockdowns were introduced across 11 council areas in Scotland.
As more than t wo million people in Scotland effectively go back into lockdown, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has admitted that she is “utterly scunnered and fed up” with the coronavirus restrictions.
Across 1 1 c ouncil a r e a s , including highly populated areas such as Glasgow, Stirling and Lanarkshire, nonessential shops, hospitality, gyms and hairdressers were forced to close as they moved into level four last night.
The restrictions will remain in place until December 11.
Shoppers i n many areas headed to stock up on Christmas presents ahead of t he restrictions coming into force.
I n Gl a s g ow c i t y c e n t r e , queues built up outside several shops despite the cold and wet conditions.
Edinburgh, however, will remain in level three, leaving non- essential shops open for those who live in the council area.
The t ougher restrictions coming into effect will “lower the risk” of people getting Covid- 19 at Christmas, Ms Stur
geon has said.
And yesterday the First Minister urged those living under level four not to do their Christmas shopping in level 3 Edinburgh.
The news comes as t ravel ban laws came into effect which state that those living in level four must not leave their council area unless they have a reasonable excuse such as travelling for school or work.
The First Minister urged Scots to abide by the new regulations, which could result in a £ 60 fine levied against those who violate the rules unless they have a “reasonable excuse”.
Speaking at yesterday’s briefing, Ms Sturgeon said: “I'm being open with people - if we want to keep this targeted approach, travel restrictions are a key part of that and people should abide by them.
"If you live in Glasgow, as I do, do not travel to Edinburgh to go shopping, because not only
will you be breaking the law you will be risking taking the virus from Glasgow to Edinburgh and putting people in Edinburgh at risk.
"That sounds blunt, but given what we face right now, I think it's important for me to blunt.”
Ms Sturgeon reminded the public that essential shops in level four will remain open, and urged people not to worry about essential food supplies.
She also suggested that people should shop online over the next three weeks if they can to get things that are not available from essential shops.
Edinburgh residents will not be able to travel to Ikea Edinburgh under the new lockdown travel restrictions.
Despite being named IKEA Edinburgh, the store is located in Midlothian which, alongside East Lothian, will move down to level two from Tuesday.
Those from Edinburgh will not be allowed to visit shopping locations such as IKEA, Costco and Straiton retail park for non- essential shopping.
Ms Sturgeon admitted that, like most of the country, she was “utterly scunnered and fed up” with lockdown but had been encouraged by a possible end in sight.
The First Minister said life could return to some semblance of normality by spring.
Ms Sturgeon said: “These restrictions are difficult and we are all scunnered and fed up, and I’m not going to stand here and pretend otherwise because I feel that same sense of being utterly scunnered and fed up as the rest of you do,” she said.
“But we do now see a possible end in sight and I think it’s really important that we don’t forget that.”
I t was confirmed earli er this week that the number of deaths in Scotland which have been linked to Covid- 19 has passed the 5,000 mark.
Ms Sturgeon said yesterday that 32 deaths from coronavirus and 1,018 positive tests had been recorded in the past 24 hours.
While she said i nfections rates have stabilised in recent weeks, they had stabilised at a stubbornly high level in some areas.
She said t he new restrictions will help infection rates come down further before the Christmas period.
"The fact is the fewer people who are in the population who have Covid by the time we get to Christmas, the lower the risk of people being infected with it during that period," she said.
"It's very important for me to be clear that the risks would not be zero - which is why we must be very careful about any relaxation over Christmas and people will have to think carefully themselves, even with any relaxation, about what they want to do or not."
On Thursday, Ms Sturgeon said the chief medical officers of the UK nations have been tasked with developing a "concrete" proposal for household mixing, details of which could be revealed next week.
Ms Sturgeon also said the new travel restrictions are "vital" to ensure there is no need for a national lockdown.
She urged Scots to abide by the new regulations unless theyhavea" reasonableexcuse", such as caring responsibilities or a hospital appointment.
"There is a very real prospect for all of us of a substantially more normal way of life being returned to us by the time we reach the spring of next year.
"I hope that encourages us, it won't make the next few weeks feel any better, but it hopefully will strengthen our resolve to stay safe ourselves, keep our families safe, keep others safe before we reach that point."