Nicola Sturgeon confirms Moray to stay in Level 3 COVID-19 restrictions

The First Minister has confirmed Moray will not move to Level 2 Covid-19 restrictions on Monday.

Nicola Sturgeon also confirmed earlier that Glasgow will also stay in Level 3 restrictions.

She said people should not travel in or out of Moray or Glasgow over the next week, except for permitted reasons.

The announcement came after Glasgow overtook Moray as Scotland's Covid hotspot.

Latest figures published on Friday showed there were 80.4 cases per 100,000 people in Glasgow in the seven days to May 11, pushing it ahead of Moray where there were 68.9.

The level three restrictions are set to remain in both local authorities for another week.

The First Minister told MSP's during Urgent Questions at Holyrood that figures declining in Moray was a cause of "cautious optimism", but had to remain in level 3.

She said: "There are now grounds for cautious optimism is improving as a result of the improving as a result of the public health interventions that have been taken.

"However case numbers remain more than double the Scottish average, so the judgement of the local incident management team, which has informed this decision, is that it is prudent for Moray to remain in Level 3 for another week so we can be more confident the position is firmly under control.

"The position will be reviewed again at the end of next week.

"At which point I do hope Moray will move to Level 2.

"In my judgement, it is sensible though difficult to be cautious now and allow Moray to move with more confidence to level 2, rather than ease restrictions prematurely and risk having to go backwards later."

Moray Council's Chief Executive Roddy Burns said: "I know it’ll be disheartening for Moray residents and businesses, and those with plans to visit the area, that we’ll remain in Level 3 of restrictions from Monday.

"There’s reassurance that Moray is doing well, we’re just not there yet.

"So we’re optimistic that extended restrictions will only be for a short time, and we’ll soon be joining the rest of mainland Scotland in Level 2 and enjoying more of the freedoms that come with this relaxation.

“This is only a possibility due to the huge community effort in the last couple of weeks.

"We’ve seen a 400% increase in testing, and thousands of residents have been rolling up their sleeves as part of the accelerated vaccination programme.

"My heartfelt thanks to our council and NHS colleagues delivering testing and vaccinations, to all those who have taken part, and to those in our business community who have helped facilitate this.

"These measures are vital in driving down transmission of the virus here in Moray, and we’re making progress – let’s keep at it.

“Meantime we can still support local businesses safely as we pull together to get out of this particularly challenging period, as we prepare to welcome visitors back to Moray – responsibly – as soon as possible.”

Deputy director of public health at NHS Grampian, Chris Littlejohn, said: "The number of new cases identified each day has levelled off over the past week.

"Around 80% of new infections are in those linked to known clusters and settings, up from around a third when concern was growing about Moray numbers.

"This flattening of case numbers, and the reduction in new infections where the source is unknown, suggests that the community outbreak across Moray is coming under control.

"We are grateful for the continuing willingness of people to get tested, so that cases and contacts can be found and isolated, to now begin bringing the number of new infections down.

"This progress has been made because people are doing the right things – getting tested, sticking to the guidelines and self-isolating when required to. Vaccination continues at pace, and our testers and contact tracers continue to work tirelessly to support the area.

"The current restrictions and interventions appear to be working.

"This is not the moment to lower our guard. But we hope we can see the end of the current outbreak not too far ahead if we stick with it, and by another few weeks we should see the further impact from the accelerated vaccination program.

"The incident management team view is that we need to see a sustained drop in cases, a drop in the rates per 100,000, and a sustained drop in the R-rate to below one before restrictions should be loosened in Moray.

"With numbers flattening already that will hopefully be achievable sooner rather than later.

"We also need to ensure that when we do relax that cases are at a low enough level it is sustainable and numbers won’t rocket 14 days later again.

"We’ve seen a huge collective effort from the people of Moray, who are working alongside us to #ProtectMoray, and for that we cannot thank you enough."