MAINLAND Scotland is being placed back in lockdown, with people required to comply with a new legal stay at home order, as part of “devastating” restrictions to try to combat the new, faster spreading variant of Covid-19, Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed.
The First Minister stressed the need to act “quickly and decisively” as she said without new measures being introduced, hospitals could run out of capacity to deal with coronavirus patients in three to four weeks.
She announced the legally-enforceable stay-at-home order will apply for all of January in all areas currently under level 4 restrictions – mainland Scotland and Skye.
People will only be permitted to leave their home for an “essential purpose”, such as essential shopping, caring for someone or if they are part of an extended household.
In a further tightening of restrictions on gatherings, the First Minister said it was now only possible for two people from two different households to meet outdoors – instead of the limit of six people from two households which had applied previously.
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This, however, does not include children aged 11 and under, who can still “play outdoors in larger groups, including in organised gatherings”, the First Minister said.
She added that “with regret” churches and other places of worship are to close, apart from for broadcasting services, funerals, weddings or civil partnerships.
While up to 20 people will still be able to attend funeral services, wakes will not be permitted during January and the numbers allowed to attend a wedding or civil partnership will be limited to just five people.
People who had previously been advised to shield are now being told not to go into work at all.
Sturgeon said the lockdown measures would be kept under close review but added: “However, I cannot at this stage rule out having to keep them in place longer, nor making further changes. Nothing about this is easy.
“I know how devastating restrictions like these ones are and I give an assurance that we will not keep them in place for longer than is absolutely necessary.”
Holyrood was recalled for the First Minister to announce the changes, which had earlier been agreed by a meeting of the Scottish Cabinet.
With coronavirus cases increasing – a total of 1905 more Scots tested positive in the previous 24 hours – Sturgeon likened the situation to a race between the vaccine and the virus.
She said that in the final days of 2020, between December 23 and 30, the number of cases had risen from 136 per 100,000 people to 225 per 100,000 people – a jump of 65%.
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The new strain of Covid-19 “already accounts for almost half of all new cases in Scotland,” Sturgeon told MSPs.
Speaking about the situation in London and the south east of England, she said Scotland had the chance “to avert the situation here deteriorating to that extent but we must act quickly”.
Police Scotland has confirmed there will be “increased patrols” amid the mainland being put back into lockdown. Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said the force’s approach to the coronavirus pandemic “had not changed”, and officers will continue to act against anyone making “wilful breaches” of the law.
He said: “We will have increased patrols in our communities to explain the regulations and to encourage people to do the right thing.”
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