SMALLER gatherings could be cancelled as Nicola Sturgeon expects the rest of the football season to be axed in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
The First Minister was addressing media ahead of today's emergency COBR meeting - where a range of other measures and restrictions will be discussed.
Ms Sturgeon stressed that no decision has been taken on further measures being introduced yet, but that they will be discussed by political leaders and expert scientists from all parts of the UK this afternoon.
The advice for mass gatherings of more than 500 people to be cancelled, issued last week, could lead to further social restrictions.
The First Minister confirmed that she expected the sports season, and this year's football season in particular, to be ended completely - with mass gatherings expected to be halted for at least three to four months.
Ms Sturgeon said: "It is possible that we will eextend that in future to smaller gatherings. Those decisions have not yet been taken."
READ MORE: Coronavirus in Scotland: Are Scottish schools closed on Monday?
The First Minister also clarified speculation that those over the age of 70 will be asked to undergo social distancing, rather than being placed in isolation - where elderly people could be asked to reduce their contact by 75 per cent.
There was also confusion that the UK Government and Scottish Government had different approaches to protecting the elderly population.
She added: "I want to be very clear that that is not the case. The position that the cabinet secretary and our national clinical director have been articulating around social distancing of these groups, not isolation of these groups, is the policy that COBR has been discussing.
"There will be discussion of further guidance for people with significantly compromised immune systems. That guidance has not been finalised yet.
"That’s likely to be akin to isolation rather than social distancing but it would be our intention to proactively contact people in that group of people."
Ms Sturgeon also indicated that household isolation is set to be discussed by leaders today - where one member of a household has symptoms, the entire household will be told to stay at home.
She added: "These are the further actions that are under discussion later today. No decisions have been taken yet.
"School closures, smaller gatherings - all of these are under ongoing review, literally on a daily basis and being informed by expert opinion."
Social isolation and social distancing
Scotland's chief medical officer, Catherine Calderwood, set out the difference between self-isolating for people with symptoms and social distancing for elderly people - which is yet to be agreed.
She said: "The self-isolation we are proposing with people with symptoms, this is to prevent other people getting the virus. You wouldn't be coming to work or school or mixing with other people.
"Even within your own family, you would be advised to eat separately - if it was possible, to sleep in a separate room.
"The social distancing for elderly and other vulnerable groups - that is to protect them from getting the virus. They are being shielded in society. That is very different from living separately to people in your own home. We want them not to get it from outside or being out and about."
She added: "What we are asking people to do is reduce those situations where actually they might catch the virus.
"The supermarkets are the busiest places in Scotland at the moment. You might not go to the supermarket today, but perhaps in a few weeks the supermarkets will be fine."
No herd immunity policy
The First Minister also reiterated that it is not Scottish Government or UK Government policy to pro-actively push forward a herd immunity policy - allowing some people to get the virus and become immune to it.
She said: "There’s been a lot of talk over the last few days around so-called herd immunity. I want to be very clear, it is not our policy and it is not the UK policy to achieve herd immunity. Herd immunity is a by-product of people getting an infection, it’s not our policy to achieve that.
"Our clear aim in every step that we are taking is to reduce the impact of this infection and crucially to save lives. That strategy of course is based on a reality that a virus like this cannot be stamped out completely or indefinitely.
"The key thing is about how we manage the spread, reduce the peak impact, which is important for the capacity of our National Health Service and also crucially, to save lives. Protecting the public is the driving priority that everything we are and will do."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel