nicola sturgeon says she will not be holding a 'circuitbreaker' lockdown in scotland despite the number of new coronavirus cases
Nicola Sturgeon today insisted she is 'not currently considering a circuit-breaker lockdown' in Scotland despite a record number of new coronavirus cases in the country.
Reports earlier this week suggested that a temporary shutdown was being looked at as an option to tackle the spread of infection.
But the Scottish First Minister this afternoon ruled out such a move as she said 'none of us want to go backwards to even limited restrictions'.
Nicola Sturgeon today insisted she is 'not currently considering a circuit-breaker lockdown' in Scotland despite a record number of new coronavirus cases
The SNP leader told a coronavirus briefing that 6,835 new cases had been reported in the past 24 hours – the second time in a week that a record new daily figure has been hit.
The number of coronavirus patients in Scotland also continues to rise, with 479 people in hospital as of yesterday with recently confirmed Covid-19, up 53 on the previous day and an increase from 312 one week ago.
A total of four deaths of coronavirus patients were recorded in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll since the start of the pandemic to 8,103.
Ms Sturgeon cautioned that the rise in cases was partly due to a record number of tests being taken.
'Some of the speculation you might be reading in the media is not accurate,' she said.
'We are not currently considering a circuit breaker lockdown.'
She said the Scottish Government was closely monitoring any rise in serious illness and the number of people being hospitalised.
'In the past seven days we have reported more new cases than at any previous time in the pandemic, although I refer back to my point about higher levels of testing, but case numbers have roughly doubled over the course of the past seven days,' Ms Sturgeon said.
'It's important to point out that case numbers are rising across the UK just now, but after a period of slower increases in Scotland the rise here is particularly sharp at the moment.
Coronavirus-related hospital admissions in Scotland are currently increasing, according to official Public Health Scotland data
'That is possibly, at least in part, a reflection of the fact that our schools return earlier, with the increased interactions that come with that.'
She said the vaccination programme had 'significantly weakened' but not 'completely broken' the link between cases and serious illness.
The First Minister urged everyone to do their part to help slow the spread of the virus.
She said: 'For the moment I do need to stress the vital importance of everyone playing their part in limiting spread of the virus.
'The more we all do this, the more chance we have of avoiding the need for the re-imposition of any formal restrictions.'