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SCOTLAND MUST impose a nationwide coronavirus lockdown for the remainder of January due to an increase in cases, Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced.
“We have decided to introduce from midnight, during the month of January, a legal requirement to stay at home, except for essential purposes. This is similar to the closing of March last year, ”he told the Scottish Parliament.
She said: “We have an opportunity in Scotland to prevent the situation here from deteriorating to that point, but we must act quickly.”
The prime minister said the closure decision was made after a Scottish cabinet meeting this morning.
Sturgeon has told people who are protecting in Scotland not to go to work.
Speaking in the Scottish Parliament, he said: “If you were protecting and cannot work from home, our clear advice now is that you should not work at all.
“The medical director is writing to everyone who falls into this category, and his letter will count as a suitable note for those who need it.”
Unlike the close of March, there will be no restrictions on outdoor exercise.
However, the Prime Minister said, the rules on outdoor gatherings will change to allow only two people from two households to meet outdoors.
Sturgeon also confirmed that most students will learn from home for at least the rest of the month.
The Prime Minister said that a learning period at home would reduce transmission rates.
He also said that the scientific community was unclear about the impact of the new Covid-19 variant on young people.
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Sturgeon said: “Just as the last places we want to close are schools and daycare centers, so schools and daycare centers will be the first places we want to reopen as we re-emerge from this latest closure.
“They remain our priority.”
The Prime Minister also said that work was underway to see if school and childcare staff could be a priority for vaccination.
The move by the decentralized government in Edinburgh will create new pressure on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to follow suit, given the pressures on health services from a new variant.
With reports from the Press Association and © AFP 2021
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