New warning over virus cases
As Scotland records highest Covid rates in UK, First Minister says country MUST heed lockdown rules
A FRESH warning over the spread of coronavirus was issued by the First Minister yesterday after figures suggested cases are rising again.
With Scotland now recording the highest rates of infection in the UK, Nicola Sturgeon pleaded with Scots to stick to the current restrictions – and warned that Covid was ‘down, but not out’.
The number of cases reported yesterday was 15 per cent higher than the same figure last Saturday.
Across the country, 563 new cases were confirmed in the previous 24-hour period – 75 more than the 488 on March 20.
Despite the week-on-week rise, the number is lower than the record 3,149 cases reported on December 29.
While campaigning for May’s Holyrood elections in Glasgow yesterday, Ms Sturgeon warned the public not to lose focus.
She said: ‘The way in which communities across Scotland have rallied together over the last 12 months has been truly aweinspiring – the difficult personal sacrifices that everyone has made have undoubtedly saved lives.
‘We have so many reasons for optimism. The vaccination programme is proceeding at pace, the number of deaths has fallen significantly, and restrictions are steadily being eased. With spring arriving we can feel that, in every respect, the world around us is slowly coming to life again.’
However, she added: ‘But we absolutely cannot take our eye off the prize. Covid is down, but it is not out.
‘The recent uptick in prevalence levels seen in Scotland – and the third wave engulfing parts of continental Europe – should be a wake-up call to all of us.
‘The fact we are now in an election campaign doesn’t mean that Covid has gone away.
‘I will be leading a briefing on Tuesday about the next steps in our fight against the pandemic.’
The First Minister also pledged that she would offer ‘strong’ leadership in the fight against the virus if she is re-elected.
She said: ‘This is not a normal election, and a central theme of the SNP campaign will be how Scotland needs strong leadership to take us through the pandemic and into the recovery. I hope all parties focus on this serious matter and less on the usual punch and judy politics.
‘But if we want to move into the recovery phase, we absolutely must continue to abide by the restrictions that are in place.’
Yesterday’s figures showed that six more people died after testing positive for coronavirus.
A total of 26 people were in intensive care, with 283 in hospital.
Separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Friday showed that while infections had stabilised in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, in Scotland the infection rate had increased over the past two weeks.
Around one in 240 people in Scotland had the virus in the week ending March 20, an increase from one in 335 for the week ending February 27.
In England, cases have fallen from one in 220 to one in 340 over the same time. In Wales, one in 450 are believed to have Covid, and in Northern Ireland one in 320.
It means Scotland now has the highest rate of infection of all the four home nations.
Last week, public health expert Professor Linda Bauld suggested the recent return to schools may have contributed to the rise.
Public Health Scotland data also shows the number of youngsters testing positive is rising steadily following the start of the phased return to school.
Overall, 423 children aged from five to 11 had tested positive in the week ending March 21, up just over 10 per cent from 384 in the previous seven days.
On Tuesday, Ms Sturgeon will set out the next steps that the Government will take against the virus, ahead of the lifting on Friday of the order to stay at home. It is expected to be replaced with a ‘stay local’ message, which will allow people to travel a little farther – but still not outside their local authority area, except for essential purposes.
Last night, Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: ‘It is a concern if the numbers are rising. ‘It is clear just from the number of tests being conducted that there have been clusters of people becoming infected again.’
As of yesterday, the vaccination programme had seen a total of 2,358,807 Scots receive their first jab. Education Secretary John Swinney was one of the thousands to receive their vaccine yesterday.
His inoculation was carried out at Blairgowrie Town Hall, in Perthshire.