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Covid Scotland: Nicola Sturgeon asks fans not to gather to watch Scottish Cup final

Nicola Sturgeon.
Nicola Sturgeon.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has asked people not to gather in large groups to watch Saturday’s Scottish Cup final between St Johnstone and Hibs.

She also said from Monday a travel ban will be implemented between Scotland and three council areas in England where there are specifically high rates of coronavirus.

There have been no reported deaths from Covid-19 in Scotland in the past 24 hours, Ms Sturgeon said.

At present, Greater Glasgow and Moray are in Level 3, meaning people from other parts of Scotland are not permitted to travel there for non-essential purposes.

However, Moray will move down to Level 2 from midnight tonight.

The first minister said people should think about whether they need to travel to East Renfrewshire or not, after a decision was made to keep that local authority in Level 2, despite a worrying rise in cases.

Travel ban to English council areas

Speaking today, Ms Sturgeon said: “At the moment, anyone in a Level 1 or Level 2 area – and of course that is most of Scotland – can travel to any Level 1 or Level 2 area within Scotland and to any other part of the UK.

“However, we know that there are particularly serious outbreaks of the April-02 variant, in three specific English local authority areas; Bedford, Bolton and Blackburn and Darwen.

“So for that reason, from Monday onwards, we are imposing, hopefully temporary, travel restrictions on travel between Scotland and those three local authority areas in England.”

Visits ‘must be delayed’

Ms Sturgeon said anyone planning to visit those areas “must delay their visit”.

Cases have risen north of the border by around 25%, she said. There have now been 7,664 deaths from Covid-19 in Scotland.

In the last 24 hours, there have been 414 new cases, 212 of which were in Greater Glasgow, 62 in Lanarkshire and 48 in Lothian. No deaths from Covid-19 have been recorded in that period.

In total, 231,282 have now tested positive for coronavirus across the country.

‘Optimistic about the future’

Ms Sturgeon said cases remain at “relatively low levels” and “that is positive”.

Vaccination is going well and people “should be optimistic about the future”, as she reported there have been no deaths in the past 24 hours from the virus.

However, she reminded the public during her announcement today that less than half of the adult population have had both doses of the vaccine.

The R-number is thought to be just above one in Scotland, which Ms Sturgeon said was linked to the ‘Indian variant’ of the virus, which she referred to as ‘the April-02 variant’.

Scottish Cup final

Callum Davidson’s St Johnstone take on Hibernian at Hampden Park on Saturday, looking to make it a historic cup double this season after winning the Betfred Cup with a 1-0 win over Livingston in February.

The first minister said while she could understand it was a big day for fans of both teams, they should not be complacent with following social distancing guidelines.

She said: “Tomorrow will, of course, be a big day for both St Johnstone and Hibs fans. I know that fans and indeed other people will be wanting to watch the game.

“However, please don’t gather in big groups in people’s houses, or in hospitality venues to watch the game – that is still against Public Health rules and is not safe in the current situation we face.

‘No one should be congregating’

“For supporters of the winning team in particular, and may the best team win, but for the winning team in particular, remember that no one, including fans, should be congregating anywhere in large numbers at the moment.

“So please enjoy the game. Celebrate if your team wins, but for your own sake and the safety of others, please do so safely. And that is something that I urge on every football fan watching the game tomorrow.”

She ended her briefing by asking people to follow three rules; to be ultra-careful, to get the vaccination when asked, and to get tested.