Leading government adviser urges Scots to 'act like they have Covid-19'

Prof Devi Sridhar voices concern on social media after spike in coronavirus cases across the country.

Scots should act like they have coronavirus and minimise close physical contact with those outside their household, a leading public health expert has said.

The University of Edinburgh’s Professor Devi Sridhar expressed her concern at the spike in Covid-19 cases across the country, warning that if hospitals start filling up with patients arriving needing emergency care, other NHS services will be at risk.

The Scottish Government adviser wrote on Twitter: “Things not looking good in the UK (massive understatement).

“We all need to act like we could have Covid-19 and minimise close physical contact with those outside our household.

“Need to avoid awful decisions about Covid v non Covid harm.

“And if hospitals start filling up with patients arriving needing emergency care, [this is] going to put other NHS services at risk.

“Everyone loses if numbers continue to increase,” she added.

Devi Sridhar.

Ms Sridhar voiced her concern on Twitter shortly after the latest Scottish Government figures were released on Sunday.

The new figures show that daily coronavirus cases in Scotland have hit a four-month high for the second day in a row.

A total of 244 people have tested positive for the virus in the past 24 hours – the highest daily figure since May 6 and up on the 221 recorded on Saturday.

This is 3.7% of newly-tested individuals.

Since the start of the pandemic, 22,679 people have been infected with Covid-19 in Scotland and 2,499 have died with the virus.

Writing on Twitter, Nicola Sturgeon also voiced her concern: “Today’s case report underlines the need for all of us to be careful and abide by public health rules.”

The First Minister urged the public to follow new restrictions which limit gatherings to six people from two households.

People living in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire and West Dunbartonshire are restricted from visiting other households.

A total of 104 of Sunday’s cases were in the Glasgow health board area, 62 were in Lanarkshire, and 25 were in Lothian.

There are 259 people in hospitals across Scotland confirmed to have the virus, down by two in 24 hours, with seven of these patients in intensive care, down one.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism.

Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.

By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Joy Yates

Editorial Director