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Scotland’s lockdown will last until at least mid-February, Nicola Sturgeon announced.
The prime minister said that even though the number of COVID-19 cases has “stabilized and even decreased”, any relaxation of the rules while infection rates remain high could “quickly reverse the situation.”
The schools, which were due to come out of the lockdown early next month, will also remain closed along with daycare centers for all those other than vulnerable children and key workers until mid-February.
The situation will be reviewed on February 2, with the possibility of a “gradual return” to learning at school.
Sturgeon said he hoped that the “stricter form of confinement” would not last “much longer,” but admitted that some measures such as face covering, social distancing and possibly travel limitations “will probably be necessary for some time.”
Calling on the Scots to remain ‘cautious’ despite the decline in the number of new coronavirus cases, he said:’ We need to see these trends continue, to be more confident that this phase of the epidemic is now on a downward trajectory. .
“We need to be realistic that any improvement that we are seeing is due, at this stage, to the fact that we are staying at home and reducing our interactions.
“Any relaxation of the blockade while the numbers of cases, although they may be decreasing, are still very high, could quickly reverse the situation.”
The island of Barra will be closed starting at midnight on Tuesday, Sturgeon added, revealing that 10% of its population has been forced to self-isolate.
Regarding vaccines, Sturgeon said the government is on track to give injections to 400,000 people a week by the end of February.
In early March, he said he expects everyone over 65 to have received their first dose, and everyone on the priority list to have been vaccinated by early May.
