Covid: Scots told to prepare for ‘digital Christmas’

October 22nd, 2020 Royaltygist News 0 comments 4

Covid: Scots told to prepare for 'digital Christmas'

Published: duration3 hours ago

'Christmas is not going to be normal'

Speaking on the BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme, Mr Leitch said the current curbs – along with the ongoing ban on household gatherings – was causing a "deceleration" in the increase of cases.

He initially said it was "honestly too early to say" what would happen at Christmas, but sounded a note of caution over the prospect of measures being eased significantly over the winter.

He said: "I'm hopeful costs now may get us a more family Christmas. But Christmas is not going to be normal, there's absolutely no question about that.

"We are not going to be in large family groupings, with multiple families coming round – that is fiction for this year."

Sturgeon and Leitch — image captionNicola Sturgeon has previously refused to be drawn on what Christmas could be like

He added: "I'm hopeful that if we can get numbers down to a certain level we may be able to get some form of normality. But people should get their digital Christmas ready."

Ms Sturgeon has previously insisted it was too early to plan for Christmas, saying it was too soon to tell what impact restrictions are having on the spread of the virus.

She has said that "all of our decisions will be balanced by an assessment of the wider harms that Covid and the measures we are taking to tackle it are having".

Following Mr Leitch's comments, Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie said the government must allow an open public debate if it "expects months more of sacrifices".

He said: "People have made huge sacrifices for months on end, they will be devastated to hear that Christmas as they know it is cancelled this year.

"Many will rightly question whether the government have used the past six months as well as they could have to expand testing, shore up our NHS and prepare for a second wave."

Banner image reading 'more about coronavirus'

RULES: What are the restrictions in Scotland?
NUMBERS: Five key figures to watch out for
LOCKDOWN: Six months that changed our lives
CASES: Where are the latest cases in Scotland?

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