NICOLA Sturgeon will today unveil her five-tiered strategy for tackling the spread of Covid-19 across Scotland – admitting “some people might take the view that that’s the wrong thing to do”.
The First Minister will publish her blueprint for more tailored and flexible measures to suppress the virus – ending a “one-size-fits-all approach”.
The framework will come into force on November 2, replacing temporary Scotland-wide and specific Central Belt restrictions - after being considered by MSPs next week.
Ms Sturgeon warned that the differentiated approach “brings with it greater complexities”.
She added: “For some parts of the country that may mean an easing of restrictions.
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“Unfortunately for other parts of the country, it may mean a continuation of current restrictions or even a tightening of those restrictions.”
Ms Sturgeon has ruled out any part of Scotland being exempt from the framework – after calls for Orkney and other island communities to be potentially treated differently.
She said: “The framework is meant to be one that all of the country can operate within.
“It could apply nationally but it’s more likely to apply on a regional or local basis.”
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She added: ”What we’re trying to do here is, without surrendering the flexibility completely that we need to manage an infectious virus, give greater clarity and certainty and get away, if possible, from a one-size-fits-all approach – get away from a situation where one part of the country is living under restrictions that are designed for a part of the country with much higher transmission of the virus.”
The First Minster said that the lowest tier of the five levels “will be as close to normality as it’s probably feasible to get without a more effective treatment or vaccine” but is “not a complete absence of restrictions”.
She added that tier one would be “roughly equivalent to what phase three of our routemap would have been, had we implemented phase three in total”.
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In phase three of the original plan to ease the lockdown, Scots were able to meet with people from more than one household indoors with physical distancing and hygiene measures, while remote working remained the default position for those who can.
In phase three, pubs and restaurants could open indoors with physical distancing and increased hygiene routines. Under the plan, live events would have been permitted with restricted numbers and physical distancing restrictions.
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