First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced that residents in West Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire and the City of Glasgow are barred from visiting other people’s homes and having household guests following a COVID-19 outbreak.
Announcing the new rules she said, “If you live in these areas you should not host people from other households in your home, or visit someone else’s home no matter where it is.”
She blamed the current COVID outbreak on the likelihood of transmission inside people’s households and between households in these council areas and not pubs and bars.
Over the past two days, 314 new cases have been identified with the greatest amount of positive cases – 135 – in Greater Glasgow and Clyde . Glasgow City has a figure equating to 22 per 100,000, in West Dunbartonshire it is 33 per 100,000 and in East Renfrewshire, it is 19 per 100,000. Elsewhere in the country, COVID cases sit at an average of 10 per 100,000 people.
Nicola Sturgeon said, ” If these numbers continue to rise further we will see more people falling ill and entering hospital.” Adding “We could, if we don’t stem this tide, see the virus running out of control.”
However, she did not rule out further measure if the outbreak could not be contained but there was no blame attributed to hospitality.
She said, “In contrast to Aberdeen this transmission is mainly inside peoples households and between households rather than pubs and restaurants.”
The new rules come into force from midnight tonight (1st September). Whole households are also being asked to isolate for 14 days if any member of the household is identified as a close contact.
She concluded, “We have not taken this decision lightly. If we don’t see these measures being effective we may have to go further.”
Hospitality bosses breathed a sigh of relief, however, they are urged not to be complacent.
Says Stephen Montgomery, founder of Hospitality Scotland, a new trade body for the hospitality industry, “Hospitality has been given a reprieve in the local lockdowns imposed in the three areas of Glasgow. Operators must now, more than ever, make sure they stick to the guidelines and ensure that everything is done to keep this virus away. We can not afford to be closed down again, however, we also can not afford to risk health.”
