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Scotland will be in a total lockdown from midnight on Monday through January in an effort to halt the escalation of the coronavirus pandemic out of control, Nicola Sturgeon announced.
The prime minister said in an emergency declaration to Holyrood that all schools in Scotland would remain closed for the entirety of January, moving to online learning, due to the risks posed by the new B117 variant of Covid.
The new “stay at home” rules, reflecting the very strict controls imposed last March, would also be legally enforced and greatly restrict who can travel, the Scottish government cabinet agreed on Monday.
While Scotland has not experienced the sharp escalation in the number of hospital Covid patients seen in parts of England over the past week, the number of positive cases has risen to new heights every day, reaching 2,464 on Sunday.
Sturgeon told MSPs that she was now more alarmed by the threat posed by Covid-19 than she had been since March. He said there was “compelling” evidence that the new variant was about 70 percent more infectious and could increase the R number of infections by 0.7.
He said that the approval of two vaccines was “enormously positive and offers us the way out of this pandemic”, but the variant with the fastest spread was “a massive hit.” She added: “In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that I am more concerned about the situation we are facing now than at any other time since March last year.”
The NHS boards of directors were already under intense pressure: 96% of the beds in Ayrshire and Arran were full, as were 60% of those in the health boards of Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Borders and Lanarkshire.
With the latest data delayed due to public sector holidays, he said a full update would not be available until Tuesday. However, in the week ending Dec. 30, the seven-day incidence of cases per 100,000 people increased by 65%, from 136 to 225.
“That increased spread of more rapid spread is undoubtedly fueling the very dire situation that we now face,” Sturgeon said. “Today’s case numbers (1,905 new cases, with 15% positive tests) illustrate the seriousness and urgency of the situation.”
He added: “As a government, our clear duty at this time is to act to save lives and protect the NHS. We know that procrastination or avoidance of this virus almost always makes things worse, not better, even if it is due to an understandable desire to wait for more data or evidence. “
The new stricter measures would take effect across mainland Scotland, which is already under the strictest level of the Scottish alert system, Level 4. The Scottish island groups, the Western Isles, Shetland and Orkney, would remain at the level. 3 for now, Sturgeon added. . –Guardian News and Media
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