Scotland on track to move to Level 3 despite covid spike, says Jason Leitch
The rate of infection is now higher north of the border than in the rest of the UK
Last updated 29th Mar 2021
Scotland's national clinical director is telling us a spike in coronavirus cases won't derail our ability to come out of lockdown next month.
We have the highest rate of infection in the UK, West Lothian and North Lanarkshire are among the worst affected areas.
Travel restrictions are due to be lifted within Scotland from 26 April.
"There'll be more openings the Easter weekend, we've described them already. Our plan is to move the whole mainland down to level 3," said Professor Jason Leitch.
"It's a judgement about what opens first or do you this bit or this bit. The advice has to be as up to date is it possibly can be.
"If you ask me today, are we on track, the answer is yes."
A spike in cases in Dundee has been linked to the city's student population, with 138 cases detected in just over a week.
Professor Leitch says it's unclear why there have been particular rises in areas of Central Scotland.
"There's no big theme, other than what we already know about this virus. This virus needs two people to transmit, a positive case and somebody who doesn't have it," he added.
"It sounds pretty straight forward. Some people locked down quicker than us. We opened schools than everybody else rest of the UK.
"There are a variety of differences between each of the countries. The way to get incidents down is to follow the safety measures."