THE First Minister has today announced a limited lockdown in Aberdeen, closing pubs, restaurants & cafes in the city.
Ms Sturgeon said the restrictions right now apply to Aberdeen city but there will be ongoing analysis of the Test and Protect data if it may be necessary to extend the restrictions to Aberdeenshire.
In the meantime, the advice is for anyone who has been in Aberdeen (particularly the nighttime economy) – pubs, a night out – “be extra vigilant” of being contacted by Trace and Protect.
If you are not, watch out for symptoms and making sure that you are rigorous to FACTS.
For businesses in the Shire, be really rigorous in the application of the safety measures you should be complying with: cleaning, PPE, details being taken.
She added: “It’s time to tighten up again,” when talking about the hospitality sector in particular.
A list of the 20 licence premises that are part of the contact tracing will be published later today on the Scottish Government website.
The number of Covid-19 cases linked to the bar has reached 54, with a 191 close contacts already traced, with the number set to rise.
Across the north-east a further 36 cases have been detected in the last 24 hours
She said the virus is “still out there and it is highly infectious” and added that the outbreak in Aberdeen is a “sharp reminder of that”.
The closure will be backed by governmental regulations, the First Minister said, and will be enforced if the rules are not followed.
The First Minister added that the changes will be reviewed next Wednesday, when she hoped that they could be removed if they could, either in entirety or in part.
However, if necessary, Ms Sturgeon has said that they could be extended beyond that seven-day period.
Andrew McRae, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Scotland policy chair, said: “While local lockdowns might be necessary to prevent additional nationwide restrictions, today’s announcement will be a hammer blow for independent firms in Aberdeen and the North East.
“While hospitality businesses will be devastated to close their doors, today’s changes will have a knock-on impact on the entire local economy.
“We’ll need to see government at all levels step up to help smaller businesses and the self-employed affected by this lockdown, including financial support if it becomes necessary.”
