Coronavirus: Sturgeon 'increasingly concerned' over resurgence

Nicola Sturgeon is "increasingly concerned" about the risk from coronavirus after a "worrying resurgence" in several other countries.

The Scottish first minister said people should be "very cautious" about foreign travel amid outbreaks in Spain, Belgium, Germany and France.

She said a "sharp increase in cases" in any country could see travellers forced to quarantine on arrival in Scotland.

Spain was struck from the UK's list of "air bridge" destinations on Saturday.

It came just days after the Scottish government had added Spain to the list of countries exempt from quarantine rules, which Ms Sturgeon said illustrated the "inherent uncertainty in everything we are dealing with right now".

She added: "I wouldn't be booking a foreign holiday right now."

• 'Lessons to be learned' from Spain decision

The Scottish government said it was forced to reverse its decision on allowing travel to Spain without quarantine after "deeply alarming" data emerged about a rise in coronavirus cases there.

The prevalence of the virus in Scotland is still at a low level, but Ms Sturgeon said that the "progress remains fragile" in light of cases "accelerating" around the globe.

At her daily coronavirus briefing, she said the danger of cases coming into Scotland from abroad was "probably higher than at any time since the start of lockdown".

She added: "I remain highly concerned, possibly increasingly concerned, about the risk from Covid.

"We are seeing a worrying resurgence in Covid cases in several countries across Europe, for instance part of Spain and Belgium, and we're seeing outbreaks in Germany and France.

"There are important lessons for us from that - the most immediate is that as the prevalence of Covid in Scotland continues to fall, we must guard against the risk of cases coming in from outside."

People returning to the UK from Spain will now have to go into quarantine for two weeks

The first minster said her government would re-impose quarantine restrictions "if countries see a sharp increase in cases", warning people to be aware of this if they are thinking of booking trips abroad.

She added: "People planning overseas holidays need to be aware of that - you cannot assume that the rules that apply to your destination will remain the same while you are there, or will be the same when you come to travel home.

"My advice to you remains to be very cautious about non-essential foreign travel at this time, and if you are in a position to have a holiday the safest way of doing so is by staying here in Scotland."

'Inherent unpredictability'

Asked if the government would consider offering compensation to people who booked travel to Spain after it was exempted from quarantine rules, Ms Sturgeon said she did not want to create any "expectation" this would happen.

The Scottish Lib Dems have also called on Scottish minsters to publish the scientific advice which informed decisions made in the "shambolic" u-turn over Spain.

Ms Sturgeon said the data involved "is not ours to publish" as it came from the UK's joint bio-security centre, and that she had asked UK ministers to publish it.

She added: "I know this is really tough, these decisions are not easy and I know the people who bear the consequences find it really difficult as well.

"There is inherent uncertainty in everything we are dealing with right now, and an inherent unpredictability - the situation with the virus here and overseas can change very quickly."