Covid in Scotland: Hotel quarantine rules still being finalised
- Published
Details of the new managed quarantine rules for people arriving in Scotland are still being finalised, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has said.
The new regime, under which travellers will have to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days, comes into effect on Monday.
Ms Freeman said discussions were continuing on the rules, but pledged they would be "finalised in time".
There has been a disagreement between the Scottish and UK governments over how the system will operate.
Everyone arriving in Scotland on an international flight will be subject to the new quarantine rules, but in England they will only apply to people travelling from 33 "red list" countries.
This has raised questions about what will happen if people travel to Scotland via hubs in England.
Ms Freeman said the Scottish government was "very clear" that no-one who has travelled internationally should enter Scotland without being part of managed quarantine.
She told the daily coronavirus briefing that this was "driven by clinical advice, and it's driven by our experience last year and over the summer and subsequently.
"We are very determined as far as we can to ensure that that view is followed."
But the UK government's Health Secretary Matt Hancock told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme on Thursday that passengers arriving in England from "low risk" countries would be required to quarantine at home - even if their home was in Scotland - rather than face hotel quarantine at their point of entry.
Ms Freeman said that this approach was "insufficient", and that the Scottish government was trying to persuade the UK government to "adopt a tougher approach".
"While we do that, we do have to give serious thought to options," she said, because "many will enter the UK via major airport hubs... and will then travel to Scotland.
"We need to work through with the UK government how that will be managed."
Ms Freeman said the question of whether measures were needed at the border between Scotland and England was "an operational issue for our chief constable".
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "We have maximised our visibility in communities and on roads across Scotland, including the border area, to provide reassurance, deter anyone who might be considering breaching coronavirus regulations and, where necessary, enforce the law.
"At this time there are no plans to establish road checks anywhere across Scotland simply to enforce coronavirus regulations."
'Being reviewed'
The Scottish government's national clinical director, Prof Jason Leitch, said the operational process for managed quarantine was "being worked out even as we speak".
"We have done this very, very quickly and it will be in place on Monday," he added.
"The operational delivery of what exactly [managed quarantine] will look like - how your meals will be delivered, and what the breaks from the room will look like - that is what we're still looking at."
Ms Freeman also said the list of those who would be exempt was "being reviewed as we speak".
"Where there are changes to that, those will be announced very shortly - there are some instances where people should be exempt from managed quarantine."
'Really worried'
And she added: "The rules will be finalised in time. I can't be clearer than that I'm afraid because the discussions are really important discussions and they need to work their way through - but everyone is very conscious of Monday's date... and are working very hard to make sure the rules are finalised in time, not only in time for Monday but in time for people to know and understand them."
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said he was concerned that the drip, drip of information without giving solid answers "spreads fear and uncertainty".
He said people in border areas were "really worried" about whether they would be able to cross the border to go to work or a doctor's appointment.
"There's lots of issues that are being raised at a local level," he said.
And he added: "I just want the two governments to work together. I think there is a route we can take for the two governments to share advice, to negotiate with each other and come to a reasonable conclusion.
"Let's just get around the table and sort it out rather than one side or another saying the other side is not speaking to them or not doing enough."
Jeane Freeman also gave the latest vaccination and coronavirus case figures.
She said 67 deaths of people with Covid-19 and 830 positive tests had been recorded in the past 24 hours. It brings the death total under the daily measure to 6,666.
Ms Freeman added that 1,113,628 people had received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine as of Friday morning. This is 64,881 more than the previous day's figure - another new daily record.
Scottish government figures also showed that it had met its target number of vaccinations for older adults living in care homes.
- Published11 February 2021
