CLICK and collect shopping could be banned if Covid cases in Scotland continue to soar, the First Minister has warned.
Speaking at the Scottish Government’s daily coronavirus briefing, Nicola Sturgeon said the NHS was coping at the moment, but was “under severe and increasing pressure”.
The number of people in hospital with the virus rose to 1467 yesterday, close to the peak of the first wave.
One of the big differences between this lockdown and the restrictions in place last March, is over non-essential retail.
Unlike last year, shops can remain open as long as they operate a click and collect service – regardless of what they’re selling.
This week, as part of a raft of measures to tackle rising numbers in Ireland, the government in Dublin closed click and collect services, saying they needed to try and keep people at home.
Sturgeon said she could, if necessary, implement similar measures here.
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“That shouldn’t be taken as an indication we are definitely going to do it, but it’s the kind of thing we are going to look at if we have a concern that we are not sufficiently reducing the number of people that are out and about and interacting.”
The First Minister suggested manufacturing and construction sites could also potentially be closed if cases continue to spiral.
Sturgeon said: “For this lockdown to really be as effective as we need it to be we must radically reduce the number of interactions we are having, and that means reducing to a minimum when people are required to leave their homes.
“If we need to require more non-essential activities to close in order to achieve this, we will have to do that. That is a matter of ongoing review by the Scottish Government right now.”
She added: “At this stage people need to prioritise limiting the spread of this virus, and if we think as a Government that we need to go further in terms of the regulations and the legal restrictions, we will do that, because we have to cut interactions sufficiently to stop this virus spreading.
“If it takes more tough decisions ... then that is what I will do.
“Because we see from case numbers, death numbers, pressure on our health service that we cannot allow this virus to run away from us, the consequences of that are just too great.”
Wintry weather in recent days means accident and emergency staff are having to deal with cases of people falling and slipping on ice, as well as the impact of Covid-19.
Sturgeon said: “Every single person who gets infected with this virus is someone who might need hospital care in future – the more all of us stay at home and reduce the opportunities for the virus to spread, the more all of us help the NHS cope.
“Stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives. That is now just as important as it was last March and I ask everybody to take it just as seriously as all of us did back then.”
She said the NHS was under “greatest pressure” in the Borders area, along with Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Ayrshire and Arran.
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But she said the NHS was under pressure across the whole country, urging Scots: “It needs all of us to help play our part in helping the heroes that work in it to cope and do the job they are doing in such difficult circumstances.”
The First Minister also acknowledged that December was “horrendous” for hospitality businesses.
She was speaking as the Scottish Hospitality Group (SHG) revealed yesterday that its members took just 20% of last year’s earnings during the Christmas trading period, losing £12,000 per week per premises on average.
The group also said that support during the pandemic had been “completely inadequate” and had often taken months to arrive.
Sturgeon said: “I always want things to happen more quickly."
She also pointed to “top-up” payments announced before Christmas for hospitality to help recoup some losses from the festive period.
“We will continue to work with local authorities to speed the provision up as much as we possible can,” she added.
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