Aberdeen

Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Aberdeenshire and Moray will move to level 1 on Saturday.

Aberdeenshire and Moray will move to level 1, Glasgow to move to Level 2 and Scotland remains on the right track.

The First Minister outlined the next steps to Parliament and confirmed that Glasgow will move to Level 2 from 00:01 on Saturday 5 June 2021.

The following mainland local authority areas will also remain at Level 2, while the situation with the virus is monitored closely:

East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire
East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire, and South Ayrshire
North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire
Edinburgh and Midlothian
Stirling and Clackmannanshire
Dundee

At the same time, from 00:01 on Saturday 5 June 2021, these 15 mainland local authorities will move to Level 1:

Highland and Argyll & Bute
Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray
Angus and Perth & Kinross
Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire
Falkirk
Fife
West Lothian and East Lothian
The Scottish Borders
Dumfries & Galloway

All islands currently in Level 1 will move to Level 0 at the same time due to sustained low numbers of cases. Everyone is encouraged to get tested to help stop the spread of COVID-19 by finding cases that might be missed, as around 1 in 3 people with COVID-19 don’t have symptoms.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:

“I appreciate that today’s decisions will feel like a mixed bag. That reflects the fact that we are in a transition phase. No part of the country is going backwards today. Before the vaccines, that would have been impossible on case numbers like this. But the vaccines are changing the game. And that means we can still be optimistic about our chances of much more normality over the summer and beyond.

“As always, all of us have a part to play in beating this virus back. So please, stick with it, and each other.”

For local authority areas in Level 2, we will be providing support to soft play and other closed sectors that had expected to open, or operate in a different way from 7 June. Full details will be provided by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance tomorrow.

Aberdeenshire and Moray on Level 1: what you can do

you can meet socially in groups:
- of up to 6 people from 3 households in your home or theirs – and can stay overnight
- of up to 8 people from 3 households in an indoor public place like a café, pub or restaurant
- of up to 12 people from 12 households outdoors in your garden or a public place
under 12s do not count towards the total number of people or households meeting outside but do count towards the number of households indoors
you do not need to physically distance from family and friends in a private home
you can travel anywhere in Scotland in Levels 0, 1 or 2 but must not enter a Level 3 or 4 area unless for a permitted reason
you can travel anywhere in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands – before you travel you must check the travel rules in those countries
you can provide informal childcare, for example to look after a grandchild
up to 100 people can attend weddings and funerals
tradespeople can carry out any work and repairs in your home such as painting, decorating or repairing
you should work from home where possible

Aberdeenshire and Moray, What can open at Level 1

Places and business that can open at Level 1 include:

cafés, pubs and restaurants
all shops and stores
all close contact services including hairdressers, barbers and beauty salons
gyms, leisure centres and swimming pools
tourist accommodation
all visitor attractions
all public buildings like libraries and community centres
all entertainment (apart from nightclubs and adult entertainment)
stadiums and events – with maximum numbers

Aberdeenshire and Moray, What must close at Level 1

Places and business that must close at Level 1 include:

nightclubs and adult entertainment

Prepare your house to resist flooding

Prepare your house to best resist new flooding

Prepare your house Once you’ve assessed your home’s overall risk of flooding

Quarantine hotels

Quarantine hotels and managed Isolation

Quarantine hotels to come in to force for international travellers arriving in Scotland from Monday 15 February

All arrivals to Scotland from outside the Common Travel Area must book and pay for managed isolation in quarantine hotels to help protect against the importation of Coronavirus (COVID-19) from 15 February.

Six hotels close to Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports with a combined capacity of 1,300 rooms will be used to implement the quarantine at a cost of £1,750 per individual traveller. Final costs for those not travelling alone are currently being worked through, as well as the details for a Managed Isolation Welfare Fund which will be launched for those who cannot afford the charge.

All arrivals must quarantine for at least ten days and will be tested twice for the virus – once on day two and once on day eight after arrival.

Existing travel exemptions will be strengthened, including limiting overseas training for elite sportspeople to athletes and coaches preparing for the Olympics and Paralympics.

A small number of arrivals will not be required to isolate, such as those involved in essential supply chains for goods coming into Scotland.

The Scottish Government will continue to engage with airports and discussions to secure a four nations approach to contracting the security, transport and accommodation services required are already underway.

As regulations to support the introduction of managed isolation are developed a range of offences and penalties to help ensure compliance will be considered.

It is still the case that all non-essential international travel is not permitted.

In a statement to Parliament the Transport Secretary urged the UK Government to match the comprehensive approach being taken by the Scottish Government.

Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said

To manage the risk of importing new variants, and to give vaccine deployment the best chance of bringing us closer to normality here in Scotland, we have to place further limits on international travel.
The UK Government has only committed to adopting this for travellers returning from “red list” countries. However, we know that is not sufficient and we will go further.
The clinical advice is clear that a comprehensive system of managed quarantine is essential to minimise the impact of new COVID-19 variants.

Scottish vaccination

Scottish vaccination programme moves to next stage

Scottish vaccination centres to open for mass in Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

People aged 70 and over will get Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines in a range of settings, from community centres to mass vaccination centres, from Monday 1 February as the vaccination programme moves to the next stage.

Those aged 70-79 and the clinically extremely vulnerable – including over-16s on the shielding list – started receiving their invitations on Monday 25 January and subject to supplies, will have received their first dose by mid-February.

Mass vaccination centres, including Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) and Aberdeen’s P&J LIVE at TECA, will be in operation from Monday 1 February for members of the public with appointments. NHS staff at these centres have been vaccinating each other this week as part of their induction. The EICC will have capacity to vaccinate more than 21,000 people a week at 45 stations. The centre in Aberdeen will start with 20 booths, vaccinating around 6000 people weekly. The Louisa Jordan mass vaccination centre in Glasgow has been operating since 8 December, carrying out 1,000 – 5,000 vaccinations daily. The facility has the capacity to move to 10,000 per day.

The scale of the operations at the mass vaccination centres means letters will also start going out next week in Lothian, Grampian and Greater Glasgow and Clyde to those aged between 65 and 69 – the next group on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation priority list.

Other smaller vaccination centres, located in community facilities such as village halls and sports centres, are also opening as the roll-out continues across the country.

The programme for first doses for care home residents, frontline health and social care workers and those aged 80 and over will be completed by 5 February.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said:

“Our vaccination roll-out continues to ramp up as we widen it to groups further down the JCVI priority list and I would like to thank all those involved in setting up the mass vaccination centres in Edinburgh and Aberdeen and, of course, the NHS Lothian and NHS Grampian staff who will be delivering the vaccines.

“It is testament to all those working hard to roll-out the vaccination programme that major logistical operations such as these are up and running despite the current restrictions.

“I would urge everyone to take up their appointment when they are offered one. The vaccination programme is one of three key ways we are working to beat this virus, along with our expanded testing programme to identify cases and break chains of transmission and the important lockdown restrictions everyone in Scotland must follow. All these measures work to greatest effect when they work together.”