Lockdown restrictions will be partially eased in Scotland next week, but Health Secretary Humza Yousaf says that stricter rules are likely to remain in parts of the country where the number of positive tests is increasing. BBC News has the story.
Under the lockdown easing roadmap, areas in level two are scheduled to move down to level one on June 7th.
But Humza Yousaf said this may not be possible for areas where Covid cases are giving “cause for concern”.
He said this could affect locations outside Glasgow, which is the only part of Scotland still in level three.
The rest of mainland Scotland is in level two, while some islands have already moved down to level one.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she is hopeful Glasgow can move down a level at the end of this week, which would allow people to meet inside homes and gardens, and alcohol to be served inside bars and restaurants.
She is due to announce on Tuesday whether the rest of Scotland can move down to level one on June 7th, a step which would allow greater numbers of people to socialise and venues such as soft play centres to reopen.
Mr Yousaf told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme that while the impact of new variants on the NHS was still being assessed, it may be necessary to hold some areas back.
He said: “It may not be the entire country moving to level one.
“I think people would understand where there are rising case numbers, where there is rising test positivity… it may be the case that parts of the country move to level one but actually other parts of the country we decide to keep in level two.”
Asked if he was referring to Glasgow, he replied: “Glasgow – but also, I must be quite frank, there are other parts from the data that continue to give us cause for concern.”
The Scottish Government is focusing particularly on the spread of the Indian Covid variant in parts of the country. This has also been at the centre of considerations in England on whether lockdown should come to an end on June 21st. A decision is expected here on June 14th.
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You get the government you deserve and you, Scotland, just voted these barstewards back. The Scottish Health Commissar is the same guy who wants to criminalise “hate speech” in the home.
As a resident Scot, I couldn’t agree more. Most in the rest of the UK don’t appreciate the extent of the problems there are here. Corrupt police, corrupt courts, the school system pushing extreme ideologies at the expense of literacy, money stolen from the yes campaign and the imprisonment of journalists (Craig Murray with others to surely follow).
A zeal for population control means there will be a confined lust for lockdowns north of the border
“Corrupt police, corrupt courts, the school system pushing extreme ideologies at the expense of literacy, money stolen from the yes campaign and the imprisonment of journalists”
So just like the UK and all other western democracies. With the odd exception, western politicians appear to be selected for their willingness to stay bought.
It’s worse in several cases. For example:
The about-to-depart head of the prosecution service treated the ‘parliament’ with utter contempt during the Salmond affair. Even Mr Kier Smarmer wouldn’t have tried that.
Education standards are below England’s.
Plus more than one ‘journalist’ arguably committed offences far worse than Craig Murray’s, yet because they either outright fawn over the SNP, or at least give them an easy ride, the police have not pursued them. (To be clear, I am not necessarily defending Murray’s actions).
And the SNP generally ‘own’ the Scottish media and the charity sector in a way that is not remotely true of the Cons in Westminster. It isn’t even close.
A minority put the Sad, Nasty Pondlife back into power.
I agree that Yousaf is bad news. That awful bill is extremely sinister.
Resent the opinion that the people like myself “deserve” this terrible government we have up here. More Scots voted against the SNP than voted for them, it’s not our fault the anti-nationalist parties can’t organise themselves into any kind of organised coalition.
When we start saying groups of people “deserve” whatever unpleasantries are coming their way, that sounds a lot like some of the comments and ideas that are voiced by the self styled health Nazis that most people here abhor.
For the record, I know of no one in Scotland that does not view Humza Yousaf as a complete and utter turd.
Turn the quoted figures into a percentage and you see that you have a choice of interpretation :
(1) Insanely unbalanced sociopathic interpretation
or
(2) Venal manipulation using the innumeracy of a majority of people.
Add to the figures the fact that these are just positive PCR results, and you really do have mental illness induced by the certifiably mad.
P.S. I have in my head the figure of 17% as the proportion of PCR+ results that represent an actual illness ….??? … and about the same for the rate of infectivity. So actual risk – even given contact with someone who is PCR+ is (being generous) about 0.20 squared of the x in 100,000.
Which means about a 0.006% chance of catching Covid in the area with the most PCR+ results.
Before a court takes away your liberty you can have a barrister speak on your behalf
For example that barrister could ask Mr Yousef if he could tell the court what the false positive rate was for the PCR test
No such niceties under a dictatorship
As was shown in the Salmond affair the Lord Advocate is under the First Minister’s thumb…there is an issue with the separation of powers in Scotland
Despite the warm weather there was no march on Saturday
No one on the beach yesterday or today, but we COULD be at the start of a third wave
The state propagandists at the BBC makes Pravda look like a beacon of freedom
And of course Nictator has announced this afternoon it is too ‘dangerous’ or whatever word she used to ‘unlock’ further next week. And of course, everyone goes along with it!
However, I can report from my neck of the woods that apart from the ‘vaccine’ uptake, in which everyone seems to have absolute faith, below the surface, there are a lot of disgruntled people. People seem to be doing their own thing & only paying lip service to the ‘rules’ where they have to.
First time, I’ve been able to say that.