New coronavirus restrictions put in place in the West of Scotland have sparked confusion with many Scots.
Lockdown measures were reinstated in Glasgow City, West Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire on Tuesday evening after a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases.
The move came just weeks after Aberdeen entered the country's first local lockdown, with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announcing the immediate closure of pubs and restaurants, as well as a five-mile travel limit and ceasing of indoor meetings.
In the Greater Glasgow area, however, the restrictions put in place extend solely to indoor gatherings, with hospitality venues able to remain operating.
Ms Sturgeon said on Wednesday morning that she understands the frustration felt by many, and that Scots will be "wondering why we have done X and not Y".
Now, the First Minister has set out some of the rationale and logic behind the government's decision to impose certain restrictions.
She said Scots should treat yesterday's developments as "a wake-up call" and "take seriously our individual responsibilities to stop Covid spreading".
In a Twitter thread on Wednesday, Ms Sturgeon wrote: "The virus is spreading again - in the West of Scotland especially - and the rise in cases in these three areas is a particular concern.
"Given the toll we know COVID can take, doing nothing is not an option. However, Test & Protect now allows us to be more targeted in what we do.
"Our data suggests that spread in and between households is driving much of the transmission just now.
"That doesn’t mean there are no cases in pubs etc - but unlike in Aberdeen, pub clusters don’t appear, at this stage, to be main driver. That analysis has guided decisions based on data, clinical advice is that restricting household gatherings indoors - where it is most difficult to keep physical distance - is vital.
"Closing pubs wouldn’t be an alternative to that - but an additional measure which, for now, they don’t consider proportionate.
"Coupled with the extended advice on isolation for anyone with potential exposure to the virus, we hope these targeted measures will be sufficient to prevent further spread - if people comply with them. However, we will need to keep situation under review.
"When we face these situations, there are no good options for those of taking decisions.
"Our objective is to stem spread with the least impact on lives and the economy. But we must all try to stop the virus spreading in first place - government can’t do that alone.
READ MORE: Glasgow lockdown restrictions: Here's what it means for you
"I know I sound like a broken record on this - but unless we all stick rigidly to #FACTS and abide by the rules, this highly infectious virus will spread. That is a fact. Difficult though I know it is, stopping it is down to all of us."
The First Minister also provided guidance on the decision to impose quarantine rules on holidaymakers returning from Greece.
The country was added to the list on Tuesday night.
She added to the thread: "Data has also told us in recent days that we’ve had a number of positive cases amongst people returning from Greece - that’s why we’ve had to add Greece to quarantine list.
"Given uncertainties of situation, my advice remains to avoid non-essential foreign travel for now."
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