Question reference: S5W-31880
- Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 17 September 2020
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Current status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 5 October 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many COVID-19 cases have been identified as part of a cluster related to licensed premises in Aberdeen in August 2020 and Lothian in September; what action it took to deal with the impact of each cluster; whether it considers that this action was proportionate and, if so, what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer
Aberdeen:
263 cases were associated with the Aberdeen City Cluster between 26 th July and 1 st September. This figure relates to cases with links to hospitality venues in Aberdeen City and not just licensed venues. The action taken to respond to these clusters came via the Local Incident Management Team and Local Resilience Forums and involved the collaboration of Police Scotland, NHS Grampian, Public Health Scotland, and Aberdeen City Council, with further input from the Chief Medical Officer and meeting of the Scottish Government Resilience Room(SGoRR).
Measures were in place for a period of 21 days from 5 August to 26 August and covered the following;
- Restrictions via regulations setting out that all businesses selling food and drink for consumption on the premises were required to close from 5 th August.
Guidance was issued at the same time covering the following;
- Travel - People in Aberdeen City are asked not to travel more than 5 miles for leisure, recreation or non-essential purchases. This includes to take holidays in other parts of Scotland or the UK.
- People are advised not to travel to Aberdeen City for leisure purposes or to visit friends and family, unless part of an extended household, while the restrictions are in place
- Gatherings - People in Aberdeen City are asked not to meet other households indoors for leisure or recreational purposes, unless part of an extended household. You can still meet people outdoors.
- Care homes and hospitals - Indoor visits to hospitals and care homes should be limited to essential visits only.
We committed to review the package of restrictions every 7 days.
In general, local restrictions are based on the precautionary principle and best clinical evidence informed by the local IMT and advice from the CMO. They are kept under regular review – before and during lockdowns - and are assessed in order be proportionate to the circumstance of each individual outbreak. In the case of Aberdeen, the CMO confirmed that the virus risk in restaurants was no less than in pubs and hence did not advise a limitation of the restrictions to pubs alone.
Lothian:
Local IMT structures have responded to outbreaks in Lothian and there has not been escalation to involve SG at the present time. Published daily data on positive cases by Health Board and Scottish local authorities is available on the Public Health Scotland Tableau Dashboard;