JASON Leitch has warned civil servants not to book a foreign holiday until 2022, a leaked internal video has revealed.
In the video, which was leaked to The Scotsman, the Scottish Government clinical adviser answers questions from civil servants on various topics relating to Covid-19 vaccines and restrictions. He said Scotland would come out of lockdown “very very slowly”.
The video was published on Monday on the Scottish Government’s internal intranet.
Asked whether people should be booking summer holidays, Professor Leitch said he would advise against it and that freedom of movement restrictions could mean no foreign summer holidays until 2022.
He said: “I wouldn't book a non-refundable summer holiday if I were you. I might book a holiday in the autumn or Christmas time but even then I'm not entirely sure what the world will look like in terms of freedom of movement.”
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Professor Leitch also spoke about an independent review of adult social care which is likely to pave the way for plans for a National Care Service to be included in the SNP manifesto for the Holyrood elections. He said it will “come with a price tag” and could report late.
Describing the man leading the review Derek Feeley as “a pal of mine”, he said it would report “this month we hope or just into next month” in time for the election. The review is due to report this month and the Scottish Government said it is expected to be published “shortly”.
Professor Leitch also said that current restrictions will be in place for “a little bit longer”.
Yesterday Nicola Sturgeon announced that lockdown will to continue in Scotland until at least mid-February.
She said: "That means that the lockdown restrictions - including the strict stay at home requirement - will remain in place across mainland Scotland and some island communities until at least the middle of February.”
READ MORE: Lockdown to continue in Scotland until at least mid-February, Nicola Sturgeon says
In the video, Professor Leitch said: “I think we'll be in this version of lockdown for a little bit longer and then gradually – as we came in gradually – we'll go out gradually but it'll be slow - very very slow because we've learned now twice we've learned how quickly it is to go up and how slow it is to come down.”
He added that it is likely that Scotland would have to “learn what the post-Covid world looks like”.
He went on: “And one of the things we're worried about - [Scottish CMO] Gregor [Smith] and I were talking about it with the First Minister this week – one of the things we're worried about is resetting the country's expectations at 1500 [cases per day] being a good thing.
"1500 is not a good thing – it's awful and it has awful implications for those who get seriously unwell so we need to drop that number further down.”
It comes as 92 more Covid deaths were recorded in Scotland.
Sturgeon revealed that 1656 positive cases were reported yesterday, which is 7.5% of all tests carried out. The total number of cases since the pandemic started is now 166,583.
The First Minister also said 2003 people are in hospital with Covid, an increase of 14 from yesterday, and six more people have been put in intensive care, bringing that totoal to 156.
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