POLICE will soon be able to hit Scots breaking emergency coronavirus lockdown rules with on-the-spot fines – possibly as soon as today.
It’s not clear yet how much they’ll be able to charge, but it’s thought it’ll be in line with the levy introduced in England, where people ignoring tougher restrictions on movement could be hit with a £60 fine, rising to £120 for a second offence.
Details of the new powers came as the number of Scots who have died after contracting coronavirus rose by three to 25.
Across the UK, the number of people who have died due to Covid-19 jumped by more than 100 in a day for the first time, rising from 475 to 578.
However, the Department of Health said the spike was, in part, down to a revision of its reporting approach.
Of the 11,568 confirmed cases across the UK, 894 of them are in Scotland, an increase of 175 in less than 24 hours.
Speaking at the Scottish Government’s daily briefing, Chief Medical Officer Dr Catherine Calderwood said this was a “very significant underestimate” of those actually infected.
READ MORE: Profile: Who is Scotland's Chief Medical Officer and how did she land the role?
She suggested the real figure was closer to around 50,000 people.
“Many of them do not yet know that they are infected,” she said.
“Nor indeed do they realise that they are going to potentially infect those around them.”
People across the UK have been urged to stay at home in a bid to help slow the spread of Covid-19.
Only limited trips out of the house are to be permitted – for exercise, to buy vital supplies, or to attend essential work.
Gatherings of more than two people, unless they are from the same household, are banned.
Speaking yesterday at the Scottish Government’s daily press briefing Nicola Sturgeon said police would now have the legal powers to close businesses and premises to enforce the lockdown.
Sturgeon said: “It will now be the rule that you should only be outside for a reasonable purpose – buying food or essential household or medical supplies, travelling to or carrying out essential work, exercising once a day, or providing care or assistance to others.
“And those found not to be acting in line with the regulations can be directed to return home or made to return.
“They can also be subject to prohibition notices. And if people don’t follow prohibition notices or instructions to return home they could be liable to an on-the-spot fine and ultimately, if necessary, prosecuted.”
READ MORE: People flouting coronavirus lockdown rules to face £30 fine
Sturgeon added: “I would take the opportunity though to stress that these enforcement measures I would hope never have to be used. They are there as a last resort, they are there to underline the seriousness of what we’re asking people to do and the importance of very high compliance.
“My hope is people will comply for the right reasons, the health protection reasons, and that the police will not have to use these enforcement measures.”
Chief Constable Iain Livingstone congratulated Scots for complying with government-issued guidelines.
Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme he said most people were heeding the advice: “In the first couple of days since the announcement on Monday night, we have seen overwhelming levels of compliance.”
“We have seen citizens of Scotland, indeed right across the UK, standing up, listening to that advice.”
Livingstone said his officers had been speaking to those caught flouting rules “to make it very, very clear what the expectations are and why they need to comply with those requirements”.
He added: “If they refuse, as I understand some of the legislation that’s going to be implemented, we would have power to instruct them to return home and to use reasonable force if required.
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"If there is continued defiance, the absolute back-stop of a power of arrest. I would expect that to be used very, very infrequently, if at all, but I do think it is important that people know that that power is there.”
Commenting on reports of a woman arrested for allegedly coughing on police, Livingstone said: “Unfortunately people will manifest behaviours that are extreme.
“We do recognise that this is a really challenging time for everybody across the country. People are having to readjust their daily habits, their work habits, their personal routines and, in some ways, we have to be reasonable in that regard.
“Everything that we do will be done in a fair, reasonable, and proportionate manner.”
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