Scotlands Deputy First Minister John Swinney says levels of
coronavirus must be reduced now in order for restrictions to be relaxed to allow families to celebrate Christmas together.
Speaking
after 11 of Scotlands 32 local authorities prepare to go into level four lockdown, he told BBC Breakfast that although progress had been made in reducing
the prevalence of the virus, levels were still too high as we head towards Christmas
and the winter pressures of January of February.
He said whilst it was the Scottish governments hope that families might be able to celebrate Christmas together, this could
only happen if early action is taken now.
Unless we get the virus levels down, it
wont be possible for us to put in place the types of hopes and aspirations
that people would have at Christmas time,” he added.
The Scottish government have been looking
very carefully at plans to enable families to be together at Christmas,
including talking to the governments of the UKs other nations to agree a common
position on restrictions.
Asked about newspaper reports that ministers
are considering reuniting families over a run of five days from Christmas Eve,
he said he couldnt share any details now, but added that if people commit to
working with the government on reducing virus levels now, we can enable
some greater degree of social interaction at Christmas time.
The UK government is urged to come clean over how it selected Covid-19 contracts.
