Shop local plea as East Lothian prepares to enter Tier Three

PEOPLE are being urged to shop local and support their high streets as East Lothian prepares to go into Level Three restrictions next week.

Plea: Norman Hampshire

Councillor Norman Hampshire, depute council leader, had tried to persuade the Scottish government to put the county into the less restrictive Level Two as new rules are introduced on a local authority area level.

However, despite First Minister Nicola Sturgeon acknowledging that East Lothian “in particular” could move to the lower level within a week of the new five-tier system being introduced from Monday, she resisted local calls to treat the county differently to the rest of the Lothians.

Mr Hampshire urged people to follow the guidelines, which comes into effect from 6am on Monday, and pointed out that cases in East Lothian were on the increase.

The county saw more than 100 positive cases confirmed in the week up to Tuesday, taking its rate to 99 cases per 100,000 people.

Mr Hampshire said: “Each of us, local residents and businesses, must continue to follow health advice, including the wearing of face coverings where appropriate, avoiding crowded places, cleaning hands regularly, keeping to 2m social distancing, and self-isolating and seeking a test if experiencing symptoms.

“I would also advise local residents to shop locally as much as possible, which helps support our high streets and also minimises travel outwith the county.“These are unprecedented and tough times but following health guidance will help us all out of the current restrictions.”

Marie Sharp , Local Democracy Reporting Service

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