Sturgeon hints Glasgow and parts of west Scotland could face toughest coronavirus measures

‘Final decision’ expected on Tuesday, says Scottish first minister

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Nicola Sturgeon has indicated that Glasgow and parts of the west of Scotland could be placed under toughest restrictions in response to a “stable but stubbornly high” prevalence of the coronavirus.

The Scottish first minister said moving to Level 4 in some areas for a short period could also help a “careful easing” of the rules over the Christmas period.

Under the highest level of restrictions, hospitality, non-essential shops and gyms would be forced to close while all contact between households would also have to stop in restrictions Ms Sturgeon has previously described as “closer to a full lockdown”.

However, schools would remain open while colleges and universities can operate “using a more restricted mix of face and distance learning”, according to the official guidelines.

Speaking at a coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh, Ms Sturgeon said she will reveal the outcome of the Scottish government’s weekly review of Covid restrictions on Tuesday after a “final decision” is taken by the cabinet.

“One of the issues we’re looking at very closely is whether current restrictions are reducing Covid rates quickly enough in some areas – particularly in parts of the west of Scotland,” she said. “These areas that have stable but still stubbornly high prevalence of the virus.”

“It means that we don’t have enough assurance and as much assurance that we’d want to have that our hospital and intensive care services are able to cope as we go deeper into the winter.

“We know that winter always brings additional pressures on the NHS and ensuring that it can cope with those pressures as well as Covid is absolutely crucial.”

The Scottish first minister added: “Stubbornly high prevalence means that we might have less flexibility to offer some limited and careful easing of restrictions over the Christmas period, which we’re very keen to do.

“Moving to Level 4 restrictions for a limited period in some areas while not a decision we’ll ever take lightly because of the wider economic and social impact, would help us to address both of these concerns.”

Urging people to adhere to local measures, she went on: “These issues we’re currently considering very closely, especially in relation to Lanarkshire, Glasgow and some surrounding parts of the west of Scotland. The government’s final decision will be taken by the cabinet tomorrow morning and then I will set that out to parliament tomorrow afternoon.”

Giving a further update on the daily coronavirus figures, she said the number of positive cases in the past 24 hours is lower than expected and is being examined.

The daily test positivity rate is 8.3 per cent, up from 7.2 per cent on Sunday, and of the new cases, 220 are in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 136 in Lanarkshire, and 101 in Lothian.