14:41

The Scottish government is calling on people to avoid all but essential contact in a rapid escalation to the response to the outbreak that will see also elective hospital procedures postponed.

The first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, told a press briefing on Monday afternoon that Scotland is now on the cusp of a “rapid escalation” of coronavirus. The government is expecting to see a doubling of cases every few days and will step up the measures it needs to take to protect the most vulnerable.



The additional measures “reflect the seriousness of the situation that we face”, Sturgeon said. As well as the advice to ban gatherings of 500 or more people, Scottish residents are being told to limit social contact and stop going to pubs and cafes. And as in England, people showing symptoms should stay at home for seven days, while members of a household where someone has suspected symptoms should stay at home for 14 days.

Jeane Freeman, the Scotland’s secretary for health, confirmed the NHS will be scaling down and postponing elective procedures, such as hip replacement, in order to increase bed capacity.

Over the next few days the Scottish health authorities will be contacting the most vulnerable group in society, specifically people who suffer from compromised immune system, which is around 200,000 people in Scotland, to offer specific tailored advice to shield that group.

“There is no way escaping the fact that what we’re advising people to do will significantly and substantially change life as we know it for a considerable period of time,” Sturgeon told the sober press conference.

Dr Catherine Calderwood, Scotland’s chief medical officer, said: “there is no chief medical officer who wishes ever to be standing here to discuss the measures that we are talking about to the population of Scotland today.”

She added her NHS colleagues and those in social care have “extremely challenging times ahead.”