Covid in Scotland: Tourism and hospital in fear of ‘circuit breaker’

Covid in Scotland: Tourism and hospital in fear of ‘circuit breaker’

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Industry leaders have warned that some tourism and hospitality businesses may never recover from the effects of further locking restrictions.

The Scottish Cabinet will then meet to discuss the re-introduction of stricter controls to prevent the spread of Govt-19.

Some government advisers have backed the notion that locking the “circuit breaker” is “short, sharp shock.”

This includes travel restrictions and the closure of bars and restaurants.

According to the Scottish Sun. Despite Nicola Sturgeon insisting that no final decisions have been made before the cabinet meeting, the two-week restrictions will take effect on Friday at 19:00.

The Prime Minister is expected to make a statement on the matter in the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday.

Stephen Leckie, owner of the Greif Hydro Hotel in Perthshire, said the developments “gave a very bad reading” to people working in hotels, restaurants, self-catering businesses or in the audience.

He said BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland The next three weeks – including the October break for many schools – are the last chance for these businesses to make money by the end of the year.

“Any travel restrictions will be a lock on those in the industry,” he said.

“If we have to cover for the rest of this month, we will walk straight into the fire from the frying pan.

“For the next five months from November, this industry, these individuals, our businesses will simply lose money, and many more will not reopen next year.”

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Stephen Lecky owns Greif Hydro in Perthshire

Mr Leggy, head of the Scottish Tourism Coalition, said consumer confidence had been tarnished and that people were canceling bookings every time there were reports of more Govt restrictions.

He added: “If it had been locked this Friday, we would have kept our rotas seven days earlier.

“We simply can not tell our people – our company will employ 700 people this weekend – we simply can not say to them, ‘Look we are locking up, we are not going to pay you, we are not you have to come to work’.

If all bookings are canceled, businesses will also face “huge amounts of work” in repaying deposits to the public, he said.

“Of course there must be other levers we can pull to prevent the spread of this virus,” he said.

“Of course blanket travel control, or circuit breaker or lock down, is definitely not the answer as we understand it. There must be other levers they can pull to prevent this virus.”

Edinburgh-based restaurant company Karina Contini has questioned whether closing the hospitality was a “false achievement”. “Is this completely different?” She asked.

He added that further locking – no matter how short – could “have catastrophic consequences for many, many businesses.”

Wednesday announcement

A further 697 viral diseases were confirmed on Monday, and the number in the hospital is on the rise.

The hospital currently has 218 Govt-19 patients, 22 of whom are in intensive care.

The first minister said on Monday that it was “necessary to do all we can” to slow down the virus and that “inactivity costs lives.”

National Medical Director Jason Leach told the BBC Scotland that the “circuit-breaker” lockout could push the course of the epidemic 28 days later and “buy time” before winter.

However, Ms Sturgeon stressed that the term “circuit breaker” could mean “many things” and that she would give “as much notice as possible” to the public and parliament about any changes.

The first minister is expected to announce any new restrictions to the Scottish parliament on Wednesday. He is understood to have held talks with opposition leaders on Monday evening.

Brian Taylor, BBC Scotland’s political editor, said Ms Sturgeon expects to “buy” from the opposition and the public.

He said the Scottish government would announce some Scottish-level measures with additional local restrictions applied to more severely affected areas such as Glasgow.

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Arzu Daniel

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