Nicola Sturgeon has told the Scottish people not to mix with other households at Hogmanay, the last day of the year, as daily CCP virus cases recorded for Scotland continued to rise on Tuesday.
There were 1,895 new cases of the virus reported in the country on Dec. 29, the highest ever for Scotland in a single day.
Amid the record number of positive cases Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister wrote on Twitter that it is “especially vital that we do not mix indoors with other households, including at Hogmanay.”
“Please plan to bring in 2021 at home with your own household,” she wrote.
She told BBC News that while there “may be a bit of a Christmas lag” in Tuesday’s figures, they are “nevertheless indicative of a rising, or what appears to be a rising, trend of cases.”
“Make sure that you are not visiting other people’s houses, right now that is the most important thing of all,” she urged.
“Unfortunately, that includes Hogmanay and New Year,” she added.
Pushback Against Restrictions
There has, however, been pushback against restrictions from anti-lockdown protesters in Scotland in recent weeks.Members of protest group “Scotland Against Lockdown,” who campaign against the Scottish Coronavirus Act 2020, and are against the mandatory wearing of masks and mandatory vaccines, marched on Bute House, Sturgeon’s official residence, in Edinburgh earlier this month.
They list several locations in Scottish cities on Twitter calling on supporters to bring their pots, pans, and drums along to protest restrictions.
Anti-lockdown protesters also gathered in Glasgow’s George Square on Monday where they were dispersed by police who reportedly issued three fixed penalty notices to two men and a woman and who arrested another man.
All of mainland Scotland is currently under Level Four, the highest tier of the country’s restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the CCP virus, where it will remain at Hogmanay and New Year.
The Level Four restrictions mean that gatherings and protests are subject to stringent curbs and the police have the right to disperse people that contravene them.
The curbs in place for Hogmanay and New Year in Scotland follow just one day of relaxation of the rules on Christmas Day.
The one day concession replaced an agreement made at the end of November between all four nations of the UK but later revoked in which up to three households could meet in a “Christmas bubble” at home, outdoors, or in places of worship on the five days from Dec. 23 to Dec. 27.
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