Coronavirus in Scotland: 'Stay at home' - Nicola Sturgeon announces full lockdown from midnight

Nicola Sturgeon has said Scotland is in “a race between the vaccine and the virus” as she announced stringent new lockdown measures from midnight and the closure of schools until February.
By Gina Davidson and Hannah Brown
Published 4th Jan 2021, 14:03 BST
Updated 4th Jan 2021, 17:51 BST
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The First Minister said soaring case numbers of Covid-19 and the modelling of the spread of the virus suggested that without stringent new restrictions NHS capacity could be breached within three weeks.

She said prevarication or delay in dealing with the virus “almost always makes things worse not better” and that to ensure Scotland did not see the level of cases currently being experienced in London the government needed to “act quickly”.

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Members of the public walk through a deserted Edinburgh City Centre on Monday ahead of the national lockdown beginningMembers of the public walk through a deserted Edinburgh City Centre on Monday ahead of the national lockdown beginning
Members of the public walk through a deserted Edinburgh City Centre on Monday ahead of the national lockdown beginning

Ms Sturgeon said Monday’s case numbers – 1,905 new cases, with 15 per cent of tests being positive – “illustrated the severity and urgency of the situation”.

As a result, a new lockdown will start at midnight for all areas of Scotland currently in level four and schools will shift to online learning from January 11 for the rest of the month, rather than returning on January 18.

The Scottish islands in level three will remain in that tier, but schools will still close.

Existing strict travel restrictions will also remain in place, with no-one allowed to travel into or out of Scotland unless it is for an essential purpose.