Covid Scotland RECAP: Nicola Sturgeon tells Scots to remain vigilant despite decline in cases | Scottish Government urges JCVI not to rule out vaccinating teenagers | Latest figures for Scotland show 13 coronavirus deaths | Dominic Cummings to give tell-all interview
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Covid Scotland: The latest pandemic updates on Tuesday, July 20
Key Events
- Scotland records 13 Covid deaths and 1,604 positive cases
- Children over 12 at increased risk from Covid to be vaccinated
- Level 0 restrictions in Scotland explained
Scully: PM had ‘really difficult’ decisions to make
Business minister Paul Scully said Boris Johnson has had some “really difficult” decisions to make in balancing protecting people against the economy.
Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme why people should trust the Prime Minister following claims from former adviser Dominic Cummings that Mr Johnson was willing to “sacrifice” the over-80s for the sake of the economy, Mr Scully said: “I don’t think that’s right.
“The Prime Minister has had some really difficult decisions to make.
“We want to protect people, clearly we want to keep people safe – we are – and that’s why we are looking at measures on what we do in the lead-up to the winter. But that has to be balanced with people’s livelihoods as well.”
Here's when Nicola Sturgeon is giving her next Covid update to Holyrood today
The First Minister is set to give her next Covid update on Tuesday, urging the public to continue to follow current guidelines as the country moved to level 0 on 19 July.
John Edmunds, professor of infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a member of Sage, warned that “winter could come early” if viruses are allowed to spread in the UK.
Budget airline EasyJet boosting flights to 74 countries on so-called 'amber list'
Budget airline EasyJet is boosting flights to 74 countries on the so-called amber list – such as Spain, Greece, Portugal and Cyprus.
Wedding dress made entirely of face masks unveiled to celebrate ‘freedom day’
A wedding dress made entirely of white face masks has been unveiled to celebrate the end of restrictions upon weddings in England on so-called “freedom day”.
The dress, commissioned by wedding supplier marketplace Hitched, is made out of 1,500 upcycled face masks.
Modelled by Jemima Hambro and designed by Tom Silverwood, it was revealed at a photoshoot near St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
easyjet boosting flights to 74 countries on the so-called amber list
Low-cost airline easyJet has said it expects to fly up to around 60% of its pre-pandemic flight programme over the summer quarter, up from 17% in the previous three months, thanks to easing travel restrictions.
It said the reopening of travel in continental Europe and easing of restrictions for the fully vaccinated in the UK would drive a marked rebound in demand in its fourth quarter to September 30.
The carrier said it was boosting flights to 74 countries on the so-called amber list – such as Spain, Greece, Portugal, and Cyprus – after the Government announced on July 8 that fully vaccinated passengers would be able to fly back from these countries without quarantine.
EasyJet’s trading update for the three months to June 30 showed it narrowed headline pre-tax losses by 8.2% to £318.3 million, which was in line with its expectations, as cost cutting helped limit the ongoing hit from the pandemic.
Angus Robertson accuses LNER bosses of disregarding Scottish coronavirus rules
Train bosses at LNER have been accused of disregarding the Scottish Government’s coronavirus regulations, by operating under English guidance on cross-border services.
Constitution Secretary Angus Robertson hit out at the rail firm, which is owned by the UK Department for Transport and which took over the franchise for the East Coast Main Line service between London and Scotland from Virgin Trains.
Mr Robertson questioned if the train firm was going to “disregard Scottish public health and safety coronavirus rules” on its services north of the border.
It comes as “freedom day” south of the border brings more differences between coronavirus regulations in Scotland and England, with an end to social distancing requirements south of the border.
With all legal restrictions now removed in England, LNER said it had “made the decision to operate under English guidance, with regards to social distancing on cross-border services, to provide consistency to customers”.
The rail operator tweeted: “Therefore, customers may be seated next to each other when travelling from July 19 onwards.”
But Mr Robertson, also the MSP for Edinburgh Central, said this was as “tenable as Boris Johnson’s exemption from social distancing regulations”.
Scully denies Covid passports for nightclubs is bribe for young people
Business minister Paul Scully said the use of Covid passports for nightclubs was not being introduced straight away in order to get the “detail” right.
He told Sky News: “We need to look at the detail behind it.”
And he added: “It’s got to get through parliamentary scrutiny, so we’ve got to get it absolutely right, we’ve got to work with the sectors that are going to be affected, to make sure that we can define this really carefully.
“All we’re doing right now is giving an advanced warning of what is coming down the line.”
He denied the scheme was a bribe to young people to get their coronavirus vaccinations.
Johnson ‘no longer bought this NHS overwhelmed stuff’, leaked messages suggest
Boris Johnson said he no longer believed “all this NHS overwhelmed stuff” as he resisted imposing England’s second coronavirus lockdown, leaked messages suggest.
Dominic Cummings shared WhatsApps with the BBC as he alleged the Prime Minister was reluctant to heighten restrictions because “the people who are dying are essentially all over 80”.
In his first broadcast interview, the hostile former chief adviser to Mr Johnson accused his one-time boss of putting “his own political interests ahead of people’s lives”.
Mr Cummings has repeatedly accused the Prime Minister of being too slow in imposing the second lockdown, which came into force on November 5.
The political adviser, who left Downing Street during a bitter row in November, shared a series of messages from October 15 that appear to be from Mr Johnson to aides.
“I must say I have been slightly rocked by some of the data on covid fatalities. The median age is 82 – 81 for men 85 for women. That is above life expectancy. So get COVID and live longer. Hardly anyone under 60 goes into hospital (4 per cent ) and of those virtually all survive. And I no longer buy all this nhs overwhelmed stuff. Folks I think we may need to recalibrate,” they read.
“There are max 3 m in this country aged over 80.
Everything you need to know about Level Zero Covid rules in Scotland, explained
Scotland has moved into Level 0 Covid restrictions today (July 19), but what does that mean?