By Tony O’Riley-
Lockdown measures enforced in Aberdeen last week following an outbreak of the coronavirus in the city will remain in place for at least another week, Nicola Sturgeon said today.
There have now been 177 confirmed cases linked to the coronavirus outbreak in the city, 940 of them has been contact-traced.
Ms Sturgeon said at First Minister’s Questions on Wednesday that Aberdeen City Council and Police Scotland were involved in the decision to continue the local lockdown measures.
The decision will be reviewed in one week’s time. The First Minister thanked people in Aberdeen after she said police reported a high level of compliance with the additional lockdown measures.
She said: “I know people in Aberdeen, who of course are today dealing with severe weather as well as Covid, will be disappointed with this decision but I want to thank them for complying so well with the measures that we put in place last week.”
The First Minister added there is not yet a need to place extra restrictions on Aberdeenshire county as a whole.
“I want to stress that nobody wants these restrictions to be in place for longer than is necessary,” she said.
“They will be reviewed in one week’s time and as soon as we can relax any of them, then we will do.”
The decisions means bars, cafes, restaurants and pubs will remain closed, and people are still not permitted to travel more than five miles for leisure or holidays. There can also be no travel to the city for leisure or to visit friends and family, and no indoor visits with other households visiting suspended for most hospitals.
Ms Sturgeon also said the number of cases in Aberdeen shows how quickly coronavirus can spread through a small area. A total of 2,491 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for Covid-19.