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Summary
- More than 2 million people are to be placed under Scotland’s hardest coronavirus lockdown restrictions from Friday.
- 11 local councils will move from level 3 to level 4 restrictions
In a bid to curb the COVID-19 infections, more than 2 million people will be placed under Scotland’s hardest coronavirus lockdown restrictions from Friday. The measures will be implemented from 6pm on Friday and will run until 11 December.
While addressing the parliament, Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon said 11 regions, which includes Glasgow city, would be moved into the nation’s highest level of COVID-19 restrictions due to the rising infection rates.
He said 11 local councils had been identified that will move from level 3 to level 4 for a strictly limited period from 6 pm on Friday.
These lockdown restrictions will see non-essential shops, restaurants, pubs and gyms closing down, but schools will be open. The level 4 restrictions will be in effect until 11 December.
The areas that will come under level 4 lockdown restrictions include Glasgow, East Renfrewshire, West Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire. Besides these, East and South Ayrshire, West Lothian, North and South Lanarkshire and Stirling will also be under level 4 lockdown restrictions.
Sturgeon said regions such as East Lothian and Midlothian would move from level 3 to level 2 from next Tuesday, and she hopes that areas under level 4 lockdown restrictions would come back to level 3 soon.
People in level 3 or 4 restrictions, as said by Sturgeon, have been advised not to travel outside their region except in case of any emergency. Also, people residing in Scotland are not allowed to travel to either level 3 or level 4 regions. Moreover, there should not be any non-essential travel between Scotland and various other parts of Britain, she added.
In the last couple of weeks, Sturgeon said the restrictions on family gatherings and hospitality had reduced coronavirus infections to some extent. Earlier, Scotland had registered 3,000 new COVID-19 infection cases per day, which was prevented eventually. But to keep any other spike lockdown restrictions are being implemented, she added.
Also read: Covid in Scotland: How will the new lockdown impact the UK economic recovery
Meanwhile, industry leaders have expressed their displeasure over Sturgeon’s announcement and stated that the highest levels of restrictions would have an adverse impact on the retail business, especially as Christmas is around the corner.
Glasgow Chamber of Commerce said Sturgeon’s announcement is devastating and urged the government to carry out more testing to avoid frequent lockdowns.
Similarly, the Scottish Hospitality Group, which represents some of the country’s largest pub and restaurant chains, said coronavirus cases in the various regions, which were under level 3 lockdown, did not plunge despite that bars and hotels were being closed. They said the cases were getting transmitted through the household and precautions should be taken at that level.
