In Aberdeen, bars, restaurants and cafes are being shut once again under the reimposition of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions
The First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, has announced the reimposition of lockdown measures in Aberdeen, following a rise in coronavirus cases in the Scottish city.
Speaking at her daily COVID-19 press briefing on Wednesday, Ms Sturgeon said that 54 new coronavirus cases had been reported over the past weeks as part of a cluster of infections that have taken place in Aberdeen.
Local health officials have specifically linked many of these new cases to The Hawthorn Bar in the centre of the city.
According to Nicola Sturgeon, over 20 other pubs and restaurants in Aberdeen are also involved in the COVID-19 infection cluster.
She went on to say that the rise in cases of the coronavirus had heightened the fears of the Scottish Government is:
“dealing with a significant outbreak in Aberdeen that may include some community transmission”.
Under the new reimposed lockdown measures, residents in the city of Aberdeen are being told to not travel over five miles from where they live.
This comes after a government minister has defended the decision of the Conservative Party to not suspend an MP who was arrested on suspicion of rape. UK Business minister Nadhim Zahawi has said that it is “right” to wait for the conclusion of a police investigation into the claims.
The decision to act was taken to “prevent further spread and to give the Test and Protect teams the best possible chance of successfully breaking these chains of transmission”, Ms Sturgeon said.
She added she was aware the reimposition of measures was “deeply, deeply unwelcome news” and that it was “the last thing” she wanted to do.
“Our precautionary and careful judgement is that we need to take decisive action now, difficult as that undoubtedly is, in order to try to contain this outbreak and prevent further harm later on,” she said.
In a wider warning to Scots, Ms Sturgeon said: “This virus hasn’t gone away – if you doubted that, then today we have evidence of how true that is.”
“It is still out there and it is still highly infectious and it is still highly dangerous.”
“The outbreak in Aberdeen is a sharp reminder of that. It shows what can happen if we let our guard drop.”
This comes after the Prime Minister of Lebanon has called for a day of national mourning on Wednesday after a huge explosive blast has killed at least 100 people in the capital city of Beirut and injured more than 4,000 people.
Ms Sturgeon said her action was “about doing all we can to ensure our children can return to schools next week”, with pupils due to return to education in Scotland on 11 August.”
“Acting now, we judge, gives us the time and the space to protect the ability of our young people to return to education,” she added.
Across Scotland, Ms Sturgeon said 18,781 people had now tested positive for coronavirus, up by 64 from 18,717 the day before.
There have been no new COVID-19 deaths recorded in Scotland for the 20th day in a row.
