Covid Scotland: Nicola Sturgeon says she will not 'reduce' protection of others in response to football fans flouting Covid rules

Nicola Sturgeon said football fans flouting Covid rules during the Scotland v England game should not be a reason to “reduce” the protection of others and speed up further easing of coronavirus restrictions.
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The First Minister’s comment came after she was questioned by leader of the Liberal Democrats Willie Rennie during a session in Parliament on why day services for adults with special needs were still unable to “fully open” despite football fans travelling to London for the Euro 2020 game in their thousands.

Ms Sturgeon answered saying she would not reduce the protection of others in Scotland in response to the fans behaviour, and that she continues to urge Scots to follow the current coronavirus regulations in place.

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She said: “We may get people, whoever they are, be it football fans or anybody else, who are not complying with the advice.

"But the response to that is not to reduce the protection of other people, including, and in particular, vulnerable people.

"This is really difficult for people in that category, I absolutely understand that, but getting everybody through this as safely as possible, is what continues to be most important.”

She added: “I could not have been more clear on the fact that I advised against fans travelling to London, as I advised against fans gathering in groups.”

Nicola Sturgeon says she will not 'reduce' protection of others in response to football fans flouting Covid rules.Nicola Sturgeon says she will not 'reduce' protection of others in response to football fans flouting Covid rules.
Nicola Sturgeon says she will not 'reduce' protection of others in response to football fans flouting Covid rules.
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Ms Sturgeon explained the current restrictions in place that are preventing some services for adults with learning disabilities from going ahead is physical distancing measures.

She said if Scotland can move to level zero by 19 July, which is her current aim, it would mean the physical distancing rule would be reduced to one metre and therefore allow an increase in capacity.

The majority of Scotland will remain in level one restrictions, with the majority of the central belt including Edinburgh and Glasgow to remain in level two until July 19, according to the latest Covid update.

A handful of islands moved to level zero earlier in the year.

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Cases of Covid-19 have been steadily rising since early May with transmission believed to be driven by the new Delta variant.

A total of 2,167 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in the last 24 hours and four new deaths.

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