Nicola Sturgeon says a ban on travel put in place by the Scottish Government’s tiered coronavirus restrictions will be enforced “sensitively and proportionately” by police.
Guidance which states that people should not travel into or out of Level 3 and 4 local authority areas will become law from 6pm on Friday.
The First Minister said that the restrictions being put in place were a “trade-off” to avoid a national lockdown, and that enforcement would only be used as a “last resort” and in cases where there had been “clear and fragrant breaches”.
What are the exemptions?
Exemptions to the travel ban include travel to be with an extended household, for essential shopping, education where teaching isn’t provided remotely, and for work that cannot be done from home.
At First Minister’s Questions, Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard raised the case of 38-year-old Linzi Page, a woman with terminal cancer who hoped to go on a final holiday to Tenerife.
She plans to travel next week, but was concerned that her trip to the airport would see her breaching the new laws.
Ms Sturgeon said she had contacted Ms Page to clarify that she would be exempt from the ban under these circumstances, adding that there is a general exemption where people have a “reasonable excuse” as termed in law.
Travel for compassionate reasons surrounding an end of life situation would meet that.
.@LabourRichard asks if people have been given enough warning about the travel ban, to know what would constitute breaking the law.@NicolaSturgeon says details of the ban, including exemptions, are outlined on the @scotgov website.
Live #FMQs updates ➡https://t.co/1aT3qIBPq5 pic.twitter.com/JrX0gzwqWm
— BBC Scotland News (@BBCScotlandNews) November 19, 2020
The Scottish Government lists a number of limited exceptions from the travel ban on their website.
The guidance states that they should not be seen as “loopholes” and that the restrictions are necessary to suppress the spread of Covid-19.
The exemptions include:
- travel for work, or provide voluntary or charitable services, but only where that cannot be done from your home
- travel to school, college, or university where teaching is not provided remotely
- (To and from Level 3 areas but not Level 4) travel for under 18s sport
- travel for essential shopping only where it is not possible in your local authority area – you should use on-line shopping or shops, banks and other services in your local area wherever you can
- travel for healthcare, social care, childcare and other essential services, including recycling, but only if they are not available in your local area
- travel to provide care or assistance to a vulnerable person
- travel to visit a person receiving treatment in a hospital, staying in a hospice or care home, or to accompany a pregnant woman, vulnerable person or child to a medical appointment
- travel for shared parenting or travel between the two parts of an extended household
- travel to meet a legal obligation, including attending court or satisfying bail conditions, or to participate in legal proceedings
- travel for essential animal welfare reasons, such as feeding a horse or going to a vet
- local outdoor informal exercise such as walking, cycling, golf, or running (in groups of up to 6 people from no more than 2 households) that starts and finishes at the same place
- travel locally (within around 5 miles of your local authority area) to reach a place to take exercise outdoors
- travel for weddings, civil partnership registrations, funerals and other “life events” (such as bar mitzvahs and christenings)
- if you are a minister of religion or worship leader travel to your place of worship
- (to or from Level 3 areas, but not Level 4) travel to your normal place of worship
- travel to give blood at a Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service collection session
- travel to transit through Level 3 and 4 areas by road or public transport if your journey begins and ends outside such an area
- travel to move house
- travel to avoid injury, illness or to escape a risk of harm
Which level is your area in, and what restrictions are in place?
The latest figures
Scotland has recorded 50 deaths from coronavirus and 1,089 positive tests in the past 24 hours, Nicola Sturgeon said.
Speaking in the Scottish Parliament, the First Minister said the death toll under this measure – of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days – has risen to 3,427.
Ms Sturgeon said the daily test positivity rate is 4.6%, down from 6.7% on the previous day.
A total of 85,612 people have now tested positive in Scotland, up from 84,523.
There are 1,212 people in hospital confirmed to have the virus, down by 29 in 24 hours.
Of these patients, 85 are in intensive care, down by three.
The R number is now thought to be slightly below one, Ms Sturgeon said.
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