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No change to Moray's tier 1 status but ban on households meeting indoors remains


By Chris Saunderson

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MORAY remains in tier 1 of the coronavirus restrictions and people here will not be allowed to meet another household indoors.

People living in Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles will be allowed to meet one other household - up to six people - from Friday.

Three council areas are to move up a protection level as cases of Coronavirus continue to rise in their areas.

Fife, Perth & Kinross and Angus local authority areas will move from Level 2 - where they have been since the new levels system was announced - to Level 3 with the change coming into effect from 6am on Friday.

All other local authority protection levels are unchanged

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said there was no immediate requirement to move any local authorities into Level 4 – the highest level – but that this was being kept under strict review.

She said: “The sacrifices everyone is making are hard - and they feel never-ending. But they are helping. They have made a difference, and they are saving lives. There is no doubt that the restrictions we have put in place have dramatically slowed the spread of the virus.

“But hospital admissions are still too high. The number of new cases we are seeing – more than 1000 a day on average – is also too high. And we cannot be sure that we are seeing a sustained fall in cases.

“As I have said repeatedly in recent days, a rising or even plateauing rate of infection is not a stable position. We want to see a decline in cases. And so we will be monitoring the situation carefully in the days ahead.

“In light of the situation I have just outlined, it would clearly not be prudent to ease restrictions today.”

Those in Levels 3 and 4 should not travel outside their local authority area unless travelling for essential reasons such as work, healthcare, or caring responsibilities, while those in a Level 1 or 2, should not be going into a Level 3 or Level 4 council area, except for those same essential purposes.

She added that these will remain in guidance over the next week but preparation for regulations will continue in the event they are required to be put into law.

Level 1:

Highland

Moray

Western Isles

Orkney

Shetland

Level 2:

Aberdeenshire

Aberdeen

Scottish Borders

Dumfries & Galloway

Argyll & Bute

Level 3:

Fife

Angus

Perth & Kinross

Inverclyde

East Dunbartonshire

West Dunbartonshire

Renfrewshire

East Renfrewshire

City of Glasgow

South Ayrshire

East Ayrshire

North Ayrshire

Stirling

Falkirk

Clackmannanshire

City of Edinburgh

Midlothian

West Lothian

East Lothian

Dundee

North Lanarkshire

South Lanarkshire

The assessment of what level of protection should be applied to each local authority is broadly based on an analysis of five key indicators:

  1. number of positive Covid-19 cases per hundred thousand people over the last week
  2. percentage of positive tests
  3. forecast for new cases in the weeks ahead
  4. capacity of local hospitals
  5. capacity of local intensive care facilities

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