Nicola Sturgeon asserts leadership over Coronavirus crisis
As the British government’s ill-defined plans to tackle the coronavirus outbreak descend into shambles, Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has stepped forward to fill the leadership vacuum.
Sturgeon, who is also the leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), has warned Scotland faces an “unprecedented situation” and a “very challenging” few months.
Addressing a media briefing in Edinburgh, Sturgeon tried to assert control over a rapidly deteriorating situation as it was announced that the total number of infections in Scotland has increased to 171 cases.
In a direct challenge the government in London, Sturgeon said mass gatherings involving more than 500 people could be prohibited in Scotland for up to four months.
Sturgeon also hinted that the Scottish government’s position on school closures could be different to the one adopted by the Tory government in London.
Hitherto, Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has staked out a unique and controversial position on the coronavirus outbreak, by refusing to close schools and ban mass gatherings.
By contrast, much of mainland Europe has gone into lockdown so as to stem the tide of the deadly COVID-19 disease.
Following Sturgeon’s briefing, the Scottish health and sport secretary, Jeane Freeman, who is also a senior SNP member, updated the media on the additional action being taken across Scotland to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
The measures include expanding the General Practice surveillance testing system (which is used to monitor seasonal flu outbreaks) from 42 to 200 practices to cover 1.2 million people across Scotland.
In addition, councils across Scotland may be asked to redeploy staff to compensate for shortages in care homes.
The Scottish government’s pro-active approach to the crisis – which is more in line with the policies of European governments than Westminster – has brought out Johnson’s poor leadership on this issue into even sharper relief.
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