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The Scottish government has not ruled out regional variations by lifting the blockade, Nicola Sturgeon said today.
The Prime Minister has repeatedly insisted that Scotland should be able to go its own way when it comes to easing restrictions, rather than taking a UK-wide approach.
Last week, the SNP leader rejected Boris Johnson’s call for staff unable to do their work from home to return to work if it was deemed safe to do so.
But Holyrood ministers have so far not endorsed a region-by-region approach north of the border, despite rural areas like Dumfries and Galloway having a lower death and infection rate than the rest of the country.
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Health officials calculate how fast the virus spreads among people using what is known as the R number.
Estimate how many people will later be infected by an individual who has Covid-19.
At his daily press conference, Sturgeon was asked if there were different restrictions for Scotland compared to the UK, if there could also be different restrictions within the country.
“I never ruled out regional variations if the evidence supports that approach, and we believe that they can be implemented in a practical and clearly understandable way,” he said.
“We don’t rule that out, but at the moment we are not proposing that kind of varied regional approach within Scotland.”
His comments came when Scottish conservatives asked for the R number to be published every day, along with regional variations.
The number, which explains the rate of reproduction of the coronavirus, is higher in Scotland than in other parts of the United Kingdom.
Ministers and heads of health are currently calculating the impact of lifting the restrictions based on the infection rate among Scots.
The Prime Minister emphasized that the closure measures had reduced the R number from an excess of three to where it is now.
“We are not proposing new social distancing measures in addition to what we already have, but other things we are doing will hopefully reduce it even further,” he added.
In a letter to Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw, the Prime Minister said Scotland’s breeding rate was still between 0.7 and 1, while in the UK overall it was between 0.5 and 0.9.
The Scottish Conservative leader said: “The R number is becoming increasingly important as we prepare to lift some of these crippling blockade restrictions.
As such, the SNP government needs to be more direct about what the R number really is and update the public daily.
“That would help increase public understanding and increase the accountability and transparency that Nicola Sturgeon claims to be committed to.
“It would also provide individuals and businesses with a pattern of where we are in this crisis and what the prospects are for things to return to normal.
“We know that the data for the number ‘R’ exist, and we know that it exists for the regions of Scotland as well as for the national figure.
“By breaking these numbers down to the regional level, it could also help various parts of the country understand the impact of the virus and how close they are to overcoming it.”
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