Coronavirus: Jason Leitch says ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown could ‘buy Scotland time’

A “circuit breaker” lockdown could help Scotland reduce the spread of coronavirus by lowering the country’s R number, the National Clinical Director has said.

Professor Jason Leitch told BBC Scotland that a two-week-long lockdown would deliver a “short, sharp shock to the R number.”

He said such a move was about "buying yourself more time", but added that officials were still weighing up whether the economic cost of a “circuit breaker” was a price “worth paying”.

His comments came as Scotland recorded 758 new cases of the virus on Sunday, with more than 200 people being treated for Covid-19 in Scottish hospitals.

Prof Leitch said any countrywide restrictions imposed would not be the same as the “full lockdown like 23 March”, adding that the Scottish Government “might make some choices in there about schools or about further education.”

"You get the R number down, you get the numbers down to a reasonable level and then you can begin to reintroduce some of the things that you've closed.

"So the idea is that a two-week, roughly, circuit-breaker, would buy you 28 days. You don't know that for sure, because it's not an exact science, but it would buy you about a month in the pandemic."

Last night authorities in France prepared for a fresh lockdown in Paris, while health officials in Ireland wrote to the Government recommending a four-week lockdown across the whole country.

Professor Jason Leitch told BBC Scotland that a two-week-long lockdown would deliver a “short, sharp shock to the R number.”

In her first tweets since Friday, Nicola Sturgeon told followers that the “common theme” in both countries was that coronavirus “is on the rise”.

The First Minister urged Scots to follow all the public health advice.

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