Scotland’s coronavirus infection rate has risen in the wake of an outbreak in Aberdeen, Nicola Sturgeon admitted today.
The First Minister said the R-rate for the county had risen to between 0.6 and one, up from between 0.6 and 0.9 and new cases have also been found in Glasgow and the Clyde.
Some 25 new cases were linked to the cluster today, a 46 per cent increase on yesterday bringing the total to 79.
Sturgeon locked the city down after cases doubled in 24 hours this week, with 39 – more than half – of the 67 new cases across Scotland in the past 24 hours in the Grampian health board area.
Ms Sturgeon said she expects to be reporting a rise in the number of people infected in Aberdeen on Friday, despite putting pubs, restaurants and other businesses back into mothballs.
‘I know that this is a real blow to the city and all of us regret that we’ve had to take this position, but I do believe that people understand why it is necessary,’ she said.
‘There are just too many uncertainties about this outbreak right now so we are not yet confident that we can keep it under control without these additional measures.’
Ms Sturgeon said she expects to be reporting a rise in the number of people infected in Aberdeen on Friday, despite putting pubs, restaurants and other businesses back into mothballs
Pubs, cafes and restaurants were ordered to shut by 5pm last night and people are banned from travelling in and out of the city in the north east, home of the Scottish oil industry
Pubs, cafes and restaurants were ordered to shut by 5pm last night and people are banned from travelling in and out of the city in the north east, home of the Scottish oil industry.
NHS Grampian has named 28 bars and restaurants, three golf clubs and a football club as venues visited by people linked to the cluster.
The bars and restaurants are The Bieldside Inn; The Bobbin; Brewdog; Buckie Farm Carvery; Cafe Andaluz; Cafe Dag; Cafe Drummond; The Cock and Bull; The College Bar; The Dutch Mill; Dyce Carvery; East End Social Club; Ferryhill House Hotel; The Hawthorn; The Howff, The Justice Mill, The Marine Hotel, McGinty’s; McNasty’s; Malmaison; Moonfish Cafe, No 10 Bar; O’Donoghues; Old Bank Bar; Prohibition; Soul; The Spiders Web, and The Draft Project.
Aboyne Golf Club, Deeside Golf Club, Hazlehead Golf Club and Banks O’ Dee Football Club were also cited by the health board.
Pub crawls could be banned across Scotland to prevent the spread of coronavirus after an outbreak of cases linked to bars.
The First Minister yesterday said her government was researching how to tighten up rules for hospitality businesses because ‘it could be that what we see here is a pattern which involves people going from one pub to another in the same night’.
Extra police patrols were on Union Street in Aberdeen today to ensure shops are complying with the new stricter rules
Contact tracing is continuing in Aberdeen, with the Scottish government’s health minister saying that getting schools reopened in the city as scheduled next Tuesday is a priority but warned additional measures may be required if necessary.
Jeane Freeman told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland radio programme it was important to recognise the complexity of the cluster – in comparison with similar outbreaks in Inverclyde and Lanarkshire – with the number of venues involved.
Ms Freeman said: ‘It is unlikely that one person has been to all 28 or so venues that have been named – what is more likely is that more than one person has been to more than one venue.
‘That is part of the complexity of this, the nature of it if you think about some of the other outbreaks that we have responded to, and traced right through to the end of the transmission chain.
‘In some ways, they’re all very very important but in some ways they have been less complex than this, which is largely centred around the night-time economy in Aberdeen and could be the night-time economy in any city or town.
‘It is complicated to know exactly where everyone has been and that’s part of test and protect, which of course we need to remember is still under way, we’ve not concluded this yet.’
Asked about the process being carried out before schools in the city return next week, she said: ‘It depends on how quickly the technical problems can be resolved and importantly that our senior statistician confirms that he is confident that that data is robust.
‘The priority is to get the schools back, we’re being really clear about that as a priority across the country as it’s one of the most important things that we that we do.
‘If there is a need for additional measures to help us do that, either in the north east or anywhere else, then I think you’ve seen that we are prepared to take those additional steps.
‘But right at the moment there is nothing to tell me that we need to do more in Aberdeen city that we have already done.’
The new restrictions ordered all indoor and outdoor hospitality venues to close by 5pm on Wednesday, prevent residents visiting each other’s homes and impose a five-mile travel limit.
Ms Freeman also said discussions had taken place on Wednesday with leaders of both Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire councils.