Scots public urged to maintain social distancing in Covid fight

John Swinney has raised concerns that the Scottish public are no longer obeying social distancing as rigidly as in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

But the number of new cases decline two-thirds yesterday after the weekend had seen cases to leap to their highest levels in a month.

Following the first weekend of pubs, bars and restaurants reopening after four months of coronavirus-enforced lockdown, the Deputy First Minister urged the public to stick with social distancing measures to suppress the spread of the virus.

Scotland moved to phase three of the Scottish Government’s route map out of lockdown earlier this month, which included the long-awaited return of tourism and hospitality businesses on last Wednesday.

John Swinney has voiced fears that Scots are no longer sticking to social distancing guidelines as rigidly as the start of the pandemic

“I think, when it comes to some of the other aspects of physical distancing, my sense is that people are becoming slightly more relaxed about physical distancing,” Mr Swinney told BBC Radio Scotland yesterday. “I think we’ve got to watch that very carefully and I appeal to members of the public to keep following the physical distancing regulations that are in place, because that way we reduce the risk of connection and contact that can support transmission.

“If we do that, I think we contribute significantly to assisting the efforts that are under way.”

While saying that some businesses had put measures in place to ensure physical distancing and reduce the chance of transmission of Covid-19, Mr Swinney urged Scots to “maintain our vigilance” to ensure transmission continues to drop.

Despite his warnings on distancing, he said the use of face coverings in shops and on public transport has increased to “extraordinarily high levels” since they were made mandatory.

Mr Swinney, who is also Education Secretary in Scottish Government, will update MSPs later this week on the return of Scotland’s schools after lockdown.

He insisted yesterday that he is “at the front of the queue” of people wanting to see schools reopen fully on August 11, adding that it is “in the best interests of children and young people” to get back into the classroom.

However, the Deputy First Minister said that decision would be made based on the prevalence of the virus in Scotland.

“What will make it more difficult is if we have a high prevalence of Coronavirus withing the community,” he added.

“I’ve been very clear since my statement to Parliament on June 23 that the safe reopening of schools full-time was predicated on us continuing our good work to suppress coronavirus.”

It comes after teaching unions warned that the full-time return of schools many not happen if an agreement cannot be reached which addresses their concerns.

But Mr Swinney said further talks will take place with teaching unions this week.

“We’re obviously working to ensure agreement amongst all parties to make sure that we have the safe reopening of schools - that’s my objective and I want to make sure that we get to that objective,” Mr Swinney added.

Scientific advisers issued guidance last week that social distancing was not necessary between pupils in schools, but would be needed between teachers and pupils.

The number of daily confirmed cases of coronavirus has dropped for the first time in almost a week, according to the latest figures. Scottish Government data shows there were seven positive tests recorded between Sunday and Monday, taking the total to 18,452.

There were no new recorded deaths.

It comes after 23 new cases were reported on Sunday, 21 on Saturday, 17 on Friday and 11 on Thursday.

Wednesday was the last time the number of new cases was in single figures, while Tuesday was when the last drop occurred - at three compared to six the previous day.

Registration of deaths usually drops at the weekend, in particular on Sundays,meaning figures on Monday can be particularly low.

The total death toll in Scotland of people who have tested positive for the virus remains at 2,941.

It comes after a cluster of six cases were found in a call centre at Eurocentral business park near Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, where staff work on Test and Trace cases for NHS England.

Just one extra case was confirmed in NHS Lanarkshire on Sunday, according to the latest figures.

A staff member in the call centre who tested positive for the virus told the PA news agency staff were “lax” in following social distancing guidelines.

Responding to the latest figures, the First Minister tweeted: “No deaths of people confirmed as having Covid were registered yesterday.

“And 7 new positive cases were confirmed - a reduction compared to recent days, but they will still all be closely examined and contact tracing undertaken as appropriate.”

A total of 299 people were in hospital on Sunday night, with three in intensive care.