People in Scotland may have to wear masks in public places for years to come according to embattled First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
The First Minister insisted that tough curbs dramatically imposed on hospitality venues and large gatherings from Boxing Day had stemmed the spread of Covid, despite official figures showing that Scotland’s virus rate is higher than England’s.
And furious business leaders said Miss Sturgeon’s ‘gamble’ with restrictions must end after they failed to make ‘any meaningful difference’ to infections in Scotland. National Clinical Director for Scotland Jason Leitch admitted that shutting down nightclubs and also banning people from football matches made no difference at all.
Speaking ahead of today’s announcement about extending restrictions beyond next week, Sturgeon said face coverings ‘might be required in the longer-term to enable us to live with it [Covid] with far fewer protective measures’.
But some ministers are pushing for the WFH guidance to be removed first, arguing that it causes the most damage to the economy.
Sturgeon told STV’s Scotland Tonight: ‘Sometimes when you hear people talk about learning to live with Covid, what seems to be suggested is that one morning we’ll wake up and not have to worry about it any more, and not have to do anything to try to contain and control it.
‘That’s not what I mean when I say “learning to live with it”. Instead, we will have to ask ourselves what adaptations to pre-pandemic life — face coverings, for example — might be required in the longer-term to enable us to live with it with far fewer protective measures.’
Unity News Network (UNN) Staff Writer | To find out more details about our staff, please head to the About Us section on our website.
