Nicola Sturgeon has warned the nation that more lockdown restrictions could be on the cards ahead of a ‘vital’ weekend.
The First Minister used today’s coronavirus briefing to reiterate that numbers are on the rise, adding that she has contacted Prime Minister Boris Johnson today to call for a COBRA meeting of the four UK nations.
Nicola Sturgeon said: “Many of you will have woken up to the news of potential national restrictions. The bottom line here is that the virus is on the rise again.
“Our case numbers are not rising as fast as they were back in March but they are rising, and rapidly. “The percentage of tests coming back positive is also not anywhere near as high but again it is rising and the R number is now, we believe, above 1.
“In England in particular, hospital admissions are rising, ICU admissions are rising. This should sound a warning signal for us here in Scotland.
“Looking more widely, we can observe that in broad terms we may be on an earlier stage of a similar path taken by France. Now they have around 10,000 new cases per day and deaths are rising as well. Our task is to make sure we interrupt that.”
The FM added “no one wants to see another full scale lockdown” or the closure of schools, and reiterated: “right now, this weekend, that means following all the rules currently in place”.
Following Scottish Government discussions, Sturgeon has called for a COBRA meeting over the course of the weekend, and finished: “I want to warn the nation that the coming days are likely to see hard but necessary decisions”.
For a full rundown of today’s briefing, follow our coronavirus live blog.
One new confirmed coronavirus death has been registered in Scotland in the last 24 hours, bringing the total under this measurement to 2,502.
203 new cases have also been confirmed since yesterday, making up 4.4% of newly tested people, bringing the total number of 23,776.
Sturgeon confirmed that 69 of new cases occurred in Greater Glasgow and Clyde with 29 in Lanarkshire.
61 people are currently in hospital - an increase of nine from yesterday, with five in intensive care, which is the same as yesterday.
