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Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon acknowledged at today’s press conference that the Scots were “frustrated” and faced the “difficulty” of following through on their message of staying home. The SNP leader rejected Boris Johnson’s call to lift the blocking restrictions this week, as people from all over England returned to work. She was questioned about this approach, as a reporter questioned whether it would give Scotland’s regions the same power to separate themselves from their own blockade orders.
Peter MacMahon, political editor at ITV Border, pointed to new figures on NHS Dumfries & Galloway’s COVID ー 19, which showed that the R number on May 8 was 0.75, compared to 0.98 in Scotland as a whole.
He tweeted: “There is also evidence from Scottish national registries of lower death rates in southern Scotland.”
During the press conference, he said: “The south of Scotland shows a lower R number. If you agree that Scotland should be able to follow its own course, is there not a solid case for parts of Scotland to follow their own course?
“Like hospitals in southern Scotland going back to routine operations and easing restrictions there before the rest of Scotland?”
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Sturgeon refused to rule out a regional split within Scotland by lifting the blockade restrictions, but said he was not allowing it “at this time.”
She replied: “We do not rule that out, but we are not yet proposing the varied regional approach.
“I never ruled out regional variations within Scotland if the evidence supports it and we can apply it in an easy to understand and practical way. But at the moment we are not proposing it.”
Earlier today, Police Scotland warned people not to join a series of “peaceful mass rallies” this weekend against Sturgeon’s refusal to relax restrictions like Boris Johnson.
The planned mass gatherings, organized as protest picnics, will be held in Scotland this weekend.
Police are “strongly” urging people not to attend the events, which are announced on Saturday in cities such as Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
The Scottish police spokesman said: “We have been informed of these brochures and we strongly urge people not to participate.
“The Scottish government’s guidance is clear: People should only leave the home for very limited purposes, for example, for basic needs, such as food and medicine, exercise, medical needs, or traveling for work that cannot be done at home “
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Sturgeon opened his press conference by announcing that 34 other people died in Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus.
This brings the total in Scotland to 2,007.
Sturgeon added that 14,117 people tested positive for the virus in Scotland, 188 times more than 13,929 the day before.
There are 71 people in intensive care with coronavirus or coronavirus symptoms, up from one on Wednesday.
