Sturgeon panic: R-rate spikes in Scotland as SNP chief declares 'this is SERIOUS' - Express

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has pleaded with Scots to "take this seriously" after the rate of coronavirus infection surged in the country. Ms Sturgeon told the coronavirus briefing that the R number, which signifies the average number of people who would be infected by another infectious person, had spiked. The SNP leader went on to explain that the R-number in Scotland is likely to be above 1 and could be as high as 1.4.

She opened her briefing by confirming that there had been 101 new positive cases in the past 24 hours, and 53 of those had been in the Greater Glasgow health board area.

Indoor gathering restrictions are now in place for 2 weeks in the Greater Glasgow & Clyde health board area.

Ms Sturgeon then said announced the rise in the R-rate, which means the spread of the virus is increasing, not decreasing in Scotland.

She said: “The virus is spreading again here, just as it is elsewhere in the UK and Europe.”

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However, the First Minister insisted that overall prevalence of the virus remains low in Scotland.

Ms Sturgeon was grilled over whether she had been "over-optimistic" in June when she said "the virus was in retreat and we were moving nearer to normality".

The reporter from ITV Border cited Nicola Sturgeon's quotes on the 19th June, when she said: "The virus has not gone away but I can say the virus in Scotland is now firmly in retreat.

"If we all keep doing the right thing, I am more optimistic than I've been in a long time that we are on track to getting normality back in our lives."

The SNP leader argued that she always said it would be "a long haul" to combat the virus

She added: "The virus will take every opportunity we give it.

"So we have to make sure we don’t give it that opportunity.”

Last week, the UK said its estimate for R across the UK was between 0.9 and 1.1.

The estimate for R in England was also between 0.9 and 1.1.

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2020-09-03 12:18:00Z
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