COVID-19: Wales brings forward toughest COVID rules – and Scotland to follow from Boxing Day
Written by News on 20/12/2020
A strict travel ban between Scotland and the rest of the UK will be kept in place over Christmas to try to stop a new variant of coronavirus from taking root, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.
In addition, for three weeks from Boxing Day, the whole of mainland Scotland is to be placed into the strictest measures – Level 4.
Non-essential shops will close, along with cafes, restaurants and hairdressers.
Orkney, Shetland, the Western Isles and other island communities will move to Level 3.
In Wales, Level 4 restrictions – in line with Tier 4 rules in England – came into effect from midnight on Sunday, while bubbles will be confined to Christmas Day.
First Minister Mark Drakeford said: “The situation is incredibly serious. We cannot expose people to the risk of this new, more virulent strain of coronavirus.”
Wales was originally due to move into Level 4 from 28 December.
Ms Sturgeon described the new variant of COVID-19 as the “most serious and potentially dangerous juncture” since the beginning of the pandemic.
Seventeen cases of the new strain of coronavirus have been found in Scotland, and it may be driving faster transmission in some hospitals and care homes, the first minister said.
“The bottom line we face is this: if we don’t act firmly and decisively, it will take hold here,” she added. Until now it has been mainly in southeast England.
Ms Sturgeon said the travel ban would cover the whole of the festive period, while previously announced household bubbles will now only be allowed on Christmas Day, as will travel within Scotland.
She added that she would be speaking to police and transport operators to see how the prohibition on anything except essential travel could be “strengthened”.
“I know how harsh this sounds,” she continued, adding that the virus is unfair and does not “care about Christmas”.
“In order to reduce the risk of more of the strain being imported, we intend to maintain a strict travel ban between Scotland and the rest of the UK,” Ms Sturgeon said in a news conference.
She said the majority of schools in Scotland will not now return until 11 January, with online learning extended until the 18th.
There will, however, be an earlier return for the children of key workers.
There had been a UK-wide plan to ease measures between 23 and 27 December.
But Boris Johnson has also announced a toughening of measures – for millions of people across southeast England.
Over in Northern Ireland, the government was “asking” people to limit bubbling on Christmas Day, Sky’s senior Ireland correspondent David Blevins said, but there was no change in restrictions yet and no clear guidance for those hoping to commute home from Great Britain.
Have your Christmas plans been affected by Scotland’s travel ban?
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