The UK’s united front on coronavirus looked to be crumbling today as Nicola Sturgeon unveiled her own lockdown ‘exit strategy’ and suggested she will not let schools open until August.
The First Minister said her preference was for the UK to coordinate action, but stressed her ‘overarching responsibility’ was to do what was right for Scotland.
She flatly ruled out easing the draconian curbs this week, saying the outbreak might be ‘slightly’ stronger north of the border than in England.
Asked whether she would emulate suggestions in Westminster schools will begin reopening in June, she said she should was not sure that would be ‘safe’ – instead hinting after the Scottish summer holidays in August is more likely.
But she also published a 27-page plan for how the loosening might happen when the time is right – days before Boris Johnson is expected to unveil his ‘road map’ on Sunday.
She said consideration was being given to letting people exercise outside more than once a day.
And there could be a relaxation to allow ‘meeting up with small defined groups’ of other people – potentially outdoors at first – in a ‘sort of bubble’ arrangement.
Police give advice on lockdown to people enjoying the sunshine in Edinburgh this month
At her briefing in Edinburgh today, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said her preference was for the UK to coordinate action, but stressed her ‘overarching responsibility’ was to do what was right for Scotland
At the briefing in Edinburgh, Mr Sturgeon said there were potentially 26,000 people in Scotland with Covid-19.
She said she would prefer the UK to act in concert, but added: ‘My overarching responsibility is to make evidence based decisions that are right for Scotland.’
She said the ‘best estimate’ was that the R number – the number of people infected by each person who has the virus – was between 0.7 and one.
It might be ‘slightly higher’ in Scotland than the rest of the country. But she stressed: ‘We can’t be sure it is not closer to one than 0.7’
While she said ministers were working towards ‘careful and gradual changes’ to the lockdown restrictions, she also stressed this would only happen ‘when we judge it is safe to make them, which I am afraid is not right now’.
With the current restrictions legally due to be reviewed on Thursday, Ms Sturgeon said it was ‘highly unlikely’ any significant changes would be made at this time.
While she said ‘real progress’ was being made, particularly with regard to the number of patients requiring intensive care treatment, she added ‘progress is still fragile’.
She warned changes could ‘quickly see transmission of the virus increase again’.
‘The hard fact is we must see further restrictions in new cases, hospital and ICU admissions, and deaths to be sure the overall level of infection and the R number are lower than they are now.
‘That means for the moment we do need to stick with the current lockdown restrictions.’
But she said the ‘severity of restrictions we are living under’ could not continue indefinitely – saying the Scottish Government was ‘preparing to make changes as soon as it is safe to do so’.
She said she was ‘particularly keen’ to allow people to be outdoors more often as soon as possible and added: ‘We are all keen to get the economy moving again as soon as we can.’
Boris Johnson (pictured in Whitehall this morning) is not expected to unveil his ‘road map’ until this Sunday
But Ms Sturgeon signalled that schools could be one area where she diverges from England. Told that Westminster was considering bringing schools back at the beginning of June, she said: ‘I cannot and should not comment on whether that is appropriate for England … but I do know, looking at the evidence I have now, I could not put my hand on my heart and say that would be a safe thing to do in Scotland.’
She suggested a return to schools ‘might not be possible at all this side of the summer holidays’.
In Scotland the summer holidays begin at the end of June and end in August.
Ms Sturgeon said: ‘This is going to be a long process with different phases along the way and we will only implement these changes when we are as certain as possible it is safe to do so.’
Ms Sturgeon said ‘We are considering firstly if and how we can safely change our advice on spending time outdoors, to allow exercise outside to happen more than once a day, so long as we continue to stay apart from people outside our own households.
‘Second, we are also considering if a slight relaxation in the rules to allow meeting up with a small, defined group of people from other households in a sort of bubble might be possible – even if initially that was only possible out of doors and not indoors.
She added: ‘We have to consider carefully the impact on the spread of the virus and we also have to think through how such an approach could be implemented in practice, and how the limitations of it could be enforced if necessary.’
Asked about a suggestion by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon that people in Scotland could be allowed to meet up with ‘small defined groups’ outdoors, the PM’s spokesman said: ‘Broadly the scientific and medical experts have been clear that there is is less likelihood of transmission of this disease outdoors than indoors.
‘That will obviously be something we are considering as part of the review.’
Ministers are considering easing the coronavirus social-distancing restrictions on people meeting outdoors, Downing Street has said.
The spokesman said they were looking at a range of possible ‘easements’ – as well some toughening of the rules – ahead of the expected publication on Sunday of the Government’s ‘roadmap’ on the next phase of the Covid-19 response.
‘We are looking at a range of possible easements to the social distancing measures. We are also looking at areas that need to be toughened,’ the spokesman said.
‘Once we have the scientific evidence and we have completed the review process, we will be able to set out what those are.’