NICOLA Sturgeon has addressed the nation in today’s live coronavirus briefing.
Joined by interim chief medical officer Dr Gregor Smith, the First Minister praised the students who had followed difficult guidance and isolated in their halls in order to help fight the spread of the virus.
She said that the guidance on visiting other households still applied to them, and if they were to return home it must be a permanent move, and not just for an overnight visit.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Scottish student 'exodus' not expected after new guidance issued
Here are the other key points from the First Minister’s briefing:
‘Underplaying’ the pandemic
Asked why the rules should be so strict on younger people, when no-one under 30 in Scotland had yet died of the virus, the First Minister cautioned the press about underplaying the risks involved with the coronavirus.
“Yes younger people are far less likely to die from this virus than older people,” Sturgeon said, “but the risk of dying is not non-existent.”
“There’s literally never a day when I don’t read reports of younger people whose health has been really adversely affected by this virus. They are suffering ‘long Covid’, the fatigue, gastro-problems, heart problems which in some cases last a long, long time.
“Don’t underplay that, because if we give young people the impression that there’s no risk to this virus then I think we’re doing them a disservice.”
Dr Smith then echoed those comments, saying that young people could still be hospitalised or end up in intensive care, or may even spread it to the older age groups who are much more at risk of serious illness and death.
University and student issues in the rest of the UK
The interim chief medical officer warned that the challenges Scotland is facing with the return of schools and universities would likely soon spread across the whole of the UK.
Smith said: “Inevitably that [the students returning to university] has put pressure on the number of cases that we are seeing and we have had a rise in cases as a result of that.
READ MORE: Coronavirus in Scotland: Nicola Sturgeon confirms another 222 cases
“I think it’s likely that we will see similar rises in other parts of the UK as their student populations return as well.
“But hopefully, as we begin to see the effects of the new restrictions … we’ll start to see that case instance figure come under more control.”
Self-isolation support details
Asked if fines for breaking quarantine which now exist in England would be brought in in Scotland, the First Minister said she wanted the focus to be on support, not punishment.
She said: “I want people to be supported to do the right thing and not, for our immediate focus, not to be punished for doing the wrong thing.”
Sturgeon added that the details of the self-isolation support payment for people on low incomes would be outlined later this week for that reason.
Difference between Scotland the rest of the UK
Public perception of Nicola Sturgeon’s response to the coronavirus against Boris Johnson’s has been stark.
A poll released in August put the First Minister’s net approval rating at +50, while the Prime Minister lagged behind at -50. It marked a boost of 45 points for Sturgeon and a decrease of 16 for the Tory leader.
Answering a question as to why public perception was so different, when the coronavirus figures tell very similar stories in England and Scotland, the First Minister said: “Over the summer it wasn’t a perception it was a reality.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Nicola Sturgeon warns house parties risk 'super-spreading'
“Because of the particular route we took out of lockdown we suppressed more than in some other parts of the UK and infection rates were very low.
“Notwithstanding what we are seeing now, never think that was a waste of effort, it wasn’t.
“If we hadn’t done that the resurgence … we would have been dealing with that on a much higher threshold.”
The letter to Boris Johnson
After Sturgeon sent a letter to Boris Johnson last week calling for the four UK nations to hold talks about taking the lockdown further if necessary, she was today asked if she’d received a reply.
The First Minister said that, as far as she knew, she had not, adding: “The letter was to talk about the need to have four nations discussions should we need to take more action beyond what we have already taken.
“There is a school of scientific opinion that in order to get R back below 1 we may have to do more than we’re doing right now, and all I was suggesting is that we, at an early stage, try to see if there’s some four nations agreement as to what those measures might look like.”
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