© REUTERS/Russell Cheyne/File PhotoFILE PHOTO: A government public health information message is seen on a roadside sign near Milnathort, Scotland, UK
Comment: The NHS is under no more pressure than usual, in some parts of the UK it has actually seen LESS admissions than usual: NHS had 15% LESS patients this December compared to 2019 - Any crisis is due to budget cuts, staff shortages and excessive measures
The latest data shows that there has been "real progress" in bringing Covid-19 case numbers down, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told lawmakers on Tuesday, but she also issued words of caution. "The situation does continue to remain fragile...The risk is increased as the new variant accounts for 73 percent of new cases," she noted.
Pressure on the NHS is severe, she added, noting that the number of people in hospital is still 30 percent higher than during the first peak of the pandemic in Scotland.
Comment: Note that they don't compare that with previous years with serious flu, because the difference would be minimal.
Lockdown will now be extended in full until the end of the month, although Sturgeon said some primary schools may open for young students on February 22. School reopening plans are set to be reviewed in two weeks and would see the phased resuming of education.
Sturgeon also announced that Scotland would introduce a "managed quarantine" for all international arrivals "regardless of which country they have come from," with further information on the move to be published in the coming days.
"The firm view of the Scottish Government is that in order to minimise the risk of new strains coming into the country, managed quarantine must be much more comprehensive," the first minister told MSPs.
The move is similar to one being mulled in England that is yet to be approved by the government there.
Sturgeon did not go into detail on the country's vaccination programme, which lags behind efforts in neighbouring England, but said a first dose has been given to 610,778 people across Scotland and 8,345 have received their second jab, as of Tuesday.
Around 18.3 percent of over-18s in England have received at least one dose, compared to just 13 percent in Scotland.
Comment: The lockdowns appear to be indefinite. In England councils have had their emergency powers extended until July - they may have gone for longer however that's all the current laws will allow. This is the new normal that leaders and figureheads around the world have been conditioning people into accepting, accompanied by their 'catchy' slogan to "Build Back Better", and it just so happens they have this harmless virus to blame:
- 'And that no man might buy or sell': Welsh government to roll out 'coronavirus vaccine ID cards'
- Scotland extends TOTAL lockdown into whole month of January despite no rise in hospital admissions
Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal #34: Covid By Numbers