Nicola Sturgeon briefing Recap: First Minister updates Scotland as coronavirus cases rise
and live on Freeview channel 276
Nicola Sturgeon will be giving an update on coronavirus in Scotland on Friday afternoon at around 12.15.
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Nicola Sturgeon briefing RECAP: Follow here for all updates
FM: “We can’t say for sure right now ‘here’s a date for when we don’t have to wear face coverings in some respects, or wash your hands’.
“I hope we get to that point soon but we can’t say for sure.”
JL: “We probably need boosters, we probably need people to keep isolating when they have symptoms for longer than we would have hoped.
“All of those things together will get us out of this but it’s a harder journey than it was before [the delta variant].”
We are actively considering vaccine certificates in areas that we have not already ruled out says FM.
“I don’t think I would be in favour of vaccine certificates for essential services.
“But for places that we have a choice of whether we go to it may be an added layer of protection.
“For places that we have not yet ruled out, we are actively considering it.
“Nightclubs are included in the list of optional places where people can go but I don’t want to just single them out.”
FM: “Everyone has had a rough deal over the last 18 months but I think in particular young people have; missing key moments in their lives, the ability to socialise with their friends, things we took for granted when we were growing up. So it’s really good to be able to see young people doing all of that again.
“Stay outside as much as possible. Follow the mitigations when indoors and just keep yourselves safe, that would be my advice [to young people].”
FM: “We don’t want to go back to restrictions if we can possibly avoid it"
FM: “The projections of hospital cases in ICU are a worry for us.
“The difference that ups our concern is that the health service - last April we cleared pretty much all non-urgent care, that’s not the case right now.
“We are trying to catch up with urgent care, so the margin there is much narrower which is why we should be very mindful of that rise in hospital admissions.”
FM: Vaccine certificates may “play a part” as added layer of protection
FM: “I’m open minded to anything that helps us get out of this, the vaccine is the closest we’ve got to some kind of silver bullet, and against Delta, even it’s not an absolute silver bullet.
“Nothing else on its own is going to do that. It’s a combination of what we can do. But if vaccine certification can play a part in that then yes I suppose theoretically it might give us an added layer of protection, that way it might make it less necessary to introduce a protection somewhere else.
“So that’s the overall balanced approach that we are trying to take.”
Covid Scotland: Nicola Sturgeon not considering circuit breaker as cases soar above 6,000
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said that the Scottish Government is not currently considering a circuit breaker to deal with the “sharp rise” in Covid-19 infections.
Nicola Sturgeon not considering circuit breaker as cases soar above 6,000
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said that the Scottish government is not currently considering a circuit breaker to deal with the sharp rise in Covid infections.
Covid Scotland: Highest number of cases recorded since pandemic began
Scotland has recorded four Covid-19 deaths and 6,835 new cases in the past 24 hours, Nicola Sturgeon said - a record daily high for positive tests north of the border.
Highest number of coronavirus cases recorded in Scotland since pandemic began
Scotland has recorded four Covid-19 deaths and 6,835 new cases in the past 24 hours, Nicola Sturgeon said – a record daily high for positive tests north of the border.
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