SCOTTISH Tory leader Jackson Carlaw has sparked anger after claiming that quarantine for UK visitors coming into Scotland would be an “arbitrary measure”.
Yesterday the First Minister failed to rule out imposing quarantine rules on people visiting Scotland from England, Wales or Northern Ireland amid fears of a second wave of Covid-19 coming from south of the Border.
Nicola Sturgeon said she wasn’t planning such a move currently, but would consider doing so “if it is required from a public health perspective”.
She said at her daily briefing that Scotland’s Covid-19 aim is to get “as close to elimination as possible”, and warned the UK Government is “letting it circulate at higher levels”.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon refuses to rule out quarantine for entrants from rest of UK
The UK Government last night placed a localised lockdown on the city of Leicester, where 10% of all positive coronavirus cases in England came from last week.
This morning Carlaw said there should not be “any attempt to close off Scotland from the rest of the UK”.
In a tweet, the Scottish Tory leader said his party accepts that “localised lockdowns” may be necessary to respond to flare-ups, but said “this does not justify arbitrary measures driving a wedge between Scotland and England”.
There was a furious response to the comment with many asking if locking down Leicester, therefore isolating it from other towns and cities in the Midlands, would be considered an “arbitrary measure” given its spike in coronavirus cases.
Cognitive dissonance from Jackson
— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) June 30, 2020
If localised lockdowns acceptable due to concerns around high rate of infection & transmission then surely taking mitigation measures against these concerns is acceptable (a duty!)?
Must be guided by public health NOT constitutional politics https://t.co/8svTKy5JgK
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf accused Carlaw of “cognitive dissonance”.
Yousaf tweeted: “If localised lockdowns acceptable due to concerns around high rate of infection & transmission then surely taking mitigation measures against these concerns is acceptable (a duty!)?
“Must be guided by public health NOT constitutional politics.”
Speaking at her briefing yesterday, the First Minister said: “If we did see an ongoing divergence between infection rates and levels in Scotland and other parts of the UK, from a public health perspective, we would be required to give consideration about how we mitigate that and guard against infection rates rising in Scotland as a result.”
Meanwhile, more than 6000 people have signed a petition calling for the Scottish Border to be closed to “all but essential traffic” to help prevent a big new outbreak of coronavirus.
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