Nicola Sturgeon threatens to enforce new lockdown measures by law in Scotland after police issue almost 800 dispersal orders in beauty spots, beaches and parks in ONE DAY
- Police Scotland issued almost 797 dispersal notices on Saturday
- Came as beauty spots like Glencoe and Loch Lomond filled up with visitors
- Scots rules eased on Friday: eight people from two families can meet outdoors
- But Sturgeon said traffic data suggested this rule was being flouted
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Nicola Sturgeon warned Scots that she is willing to make it illegal to breach coronavirus lockdown rules today after widespread flouting of restrictions.
Police Scotland revealed it issued almost 800 dispersal notices on Saturday as beauty spots like Glencoe and Loch Lomond filled up with visitors.
The numbers, a five-fold increase on the same day the week before, came the day after the Holyrood administration allowed two households in groups of up to eight people to meet outside, as long as they are socially distanced.
It also only said people can ‘travel short distances for outdoor leisure and exercise but should remain in your local area, suggested to be five miles from your house, although we ask people to use their judgement’.
Facing the media and public today Ms Sturgeon also said traffic statistics from the weekend were a ’cause for concern’, with road use on Sunday up by 70 per cent on the previous Sunday and a 60 per cent increase on Saturday from the week before.
Traffic on the A82 near Loch Lomond and on the roads around Glencoe, the First Minister said, was three times higher on Saturday than the previous week.
‘Let me be very blunt here – it’s very hard to see how all of that could have been caused by local residents or by people travelling a reasonable distance to meet loved ones,’ she said.
Police Scotland revealed it issued almost 800 dispersal notices on Saturday as beauty spots like Glencoe and Loch Lomond (pictured) filled up with visitors
Ms Sturgeon said: ‘It’s very hard to see how all of that could have been caused by local residents or by people travelling a reasonable distance to meet loved ones’
‘It’s worth being clear, in fact I have a duty to be clear with you, that if there is continued evidence of even a minority not abiding by these guidelines and travelling unnecessarily, if people meet up in larger groups or if they’re making journeys which risk spreading this virus, we will have to put these restrictions on group size and travel distance into law.
‘We won’t hesitate to do that if we think it’s necessary for the collective safety and wellbeing of the population.’
The First Minister said coronavirus cases could still increase, leading to a loss of life and relaxed lockdown measures being reimposed.
She used her daily briefing to reveal 2,363 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus, up by one from 2,362 on Sunday.
She said 15,418 people have tested positive for the virus in Scotland, up by 18 from 15,400 the day before.
The rules said people should ‘remain in your local area, suggested to be five miles from your house’, but tourist areas like Loch Lomond were busy (pictured)
There are 1,046 people in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, a decrease of 27, and 27 people were in intensive care, no change on the previous day.
She added: ‘The reason I’m stressing this, the real danger that we still face, is not because I want to be imposing these restrictions, but it is because the progress we’ve made so far in tackling Covid-19 is simply not guaranteed and it is not irreversible.’
The First Minister concluded by saying, for the first time, someone she personally knows contracted the virus over the weekend.
She said: ‘Why am I telling you that? That is because it’s still there.
‘Even with these numbers going down, there are still people being tested positive for this virus.
‘It’s ready to pounce, it’s ready to jump across all these bridges that we offer it.’
Without revealing who the person was, she added: ‘If we want to stop that, we must, must, must stick to these guidelines.’