A TWO-WEEK “circuit-breaker” lockdown could be used to help Scotland “buy time” in the pandemic, according to the national clinical director.
Professor Jason Leitch has said the stopgap measure would help drive the rate of infection down for 28 days, delivering a "short, sharp shock" to the R number.
Last week, he warned that rising numbers of patients being admitted to intensive care with Covid-10 represented a “very, very loud warning bell”.
Doctors’ leaders have also said that the NHS is set to experience its most difficult winter since it was founded in 1948, due to the pressure caused by the pandemic.
READ MORE: New Scottish Covid restrictions may happen 'very quickly' warns John Swinney
Deputy First Minister warned yesterday that further restrictions may be introduced as 758 new cases were recorded.
Speaking on BBC Scotland's Seven Days programme, Leitch said a “circuit-breaker” lockdown was about "buying yourself more time".
He explained: "Not full lockdown like 23 March – so you might make some choices in there about schools or about further education – but fundamentally a short, sharp shock to the R number.
"You get the R number down, you get the numbers down to a reasonable level and then you can begin to reintroduce some of the things that you've closed.
"So the idea is that a two-week, roughly, circuit-breaker, would buy you 28 days. You don't know that for sure, because it's not an exact science, but it would buy you about a month in the pandemic and it’s whether that cost if worth paying.”
“A 2 week circuit breaker would buy you 28 days in the pandemic.”@jasonleitch tells #BBCSevenDays about circuit breakers.
— The Nine (@BBCScotNine) October 4, 2020
Watch a review of all the week’s news on the @bbcscotland channel at 11pm or on @bbciplayer@KevinJPringle @SiobhanMathers @IndiaWilloughby pic.twitter.com/X3yj1yD4Ux
READ MORE: UK Covid cases soar by 23,000 after Public Health England computer glitch
Last week, Nicola Sturgeon confirmed Scotland’s R number – effectively a measure of the rate at which Covid-19 is being passed on – remains above one, meaning the number of cases is increasing exponentially.
The First Minister warned the figure could be as a high as 1.7.
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