SCOTLAND has recorded the highest daily number of coronavirus deaths since peak levels of fatalities in the spring – prompting ministers to consider further restrictions for the worst-hit areas.
The development has heightened the prospect of parts of the county – possibly Lanarkshire – moving into level 4, the highest tier of restrictions, as early as next week under new efforts to contain the spread of infections and stop hospitals from being overwhelmed.
It also comes amid warnings from the First Minister than legal curbs on people travelling in and out of Covid hotspots areas could be introduced soon, with fines for Scots who breach the rules.
Speaking at the Scottish Government’s briefing in Edinburgh yesterday, Nicola Sturgeon said 50 deaths from Covid-19 and 1433 positive tests had been recorded in the previous 24 hours. It was the largest number of deaths recorded in the daily figures since May.
It takes the death toll under this measure – of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days – to 2927.
A total of 4649 people have died in Scotland with confirmed or suspected coronavirus, the National Records of Scotland said yesterday.
Its figures – which record all deaths registered in Scotland when Covid-19 is mentioned on the death certificate – show 167 fatalities were registered between October 26 and November 1, an increase of 61 from the previous week.
The First Minister said it is too soon to know if this high daily figure is part of a trend but she stressed the number of deaths is not the most reliable indicator of the spread of the virus.
She warned coronavirus could “overwhelm” Scotland’s hospitals if there is not a “significant and sustained improvement” in the reduction of coronavirus before the winter months.
“Although we continue to see some positive signs in our data just now, and that’s all down to the sacrifices people across the country are making, we still are dealing with a very fragile and volatile situation,” she said.
Sturgeon said if the infection rate is not brought down “the risk we would bear is going deeper into the winter with a high baseline of infection and that would mean any increase in the R number could quickly see the virus overwhelm us and overwhelm our hospitals”.
She added: “We’ll be monitoring the situation closely ahead of the first review of our new levels system next Tuesday.”
Earlier yesterday she said she is considering legally enforcing travel restrictions in Scotland, with an announcement expected next week.
The First Minister said reducing travel plays an important role in preventing coronavirus spreading to areas of low prevalence.
People in level 3 areas of Scotland are advised to avoid leaving their local authority boundaries unless essential, while those in areas with lower levels are told to “minimise unnecessary journeys between areas in different levels”.
Scots are also advised to avoid unnecessary travel to other parts of the UK. Sturgeon and interim chief medical officer Dr Gregor Smith appeared at Holyrood’s Covid-19 Committee yesterday morning.
Stuart McMillan, SNP MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, asked why his area had been placed into level 3 despite having lower levels of prevalence than other parts of the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area.
The First Minister said there are questions over whether virus levels in Inverclyde are “sustainably low”.
She added: “In terms of guidance, we are actively considering whether we give a legal underpinning in future weeks to these travel restrictions and I’ll probably say more about that at the review point next week.”
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