Alyn Smith MP and Bruce Crawford have called on Stirling residents to pull together and reaffirm their efforts to tackle COVID-19, as the Stirling Council area enters Level 4 restrictions from Friday 20th November, for 3 weeks.

The announcement of the move from Level 3 to Level 4 came on Tuesday, as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon notified Parliament that 11 local authorities would be making the move to the highest level of restrictions.

Infection levels in the Stirling areas remain stubbornly high, and fears remain that hospital and ICU bed capacity will continue to come under pressure over the coming weeks. 

Mr Smith and Mr Crawford recognise the news of tighter measures will be unwelcome, but urge solidarity and for everyone to pitch in to bring infection numbers down.

MSP Bruce Crawford said:
‘This was a situation that everyone wanted to avoid, but one that became increasingly necessary.

‘The Scottish Government has published the reason for each local authority protection level allocation, detailing that the continued high prevalence of the virus in Stirling communities raised cause for concern around NHS capacity – especially as we are now entering into winter, a season which is already cause for added pressure on our health service.

‘Whilst I fully sympathise with the concerns people may have, this is about saving lives and that has to remain our primary concern.’

‘The Scottish Government has announced funding support for businesses that will have to close or severely alter their operations during this time, and I am working closely with local businesses and the council to help ensure that the Stirling economy is supported as much as possible.’

Alyn Smith MP added:
‘I support what is clearly a very difficult decision for any government to have to make.

‘In recent weeks, the rate of infection across our local communities has increased and remained at a high level. Most communities in the Stirling area are currently in the highest infection rate band of more than 100 per 100,000 – including the northern highland communities.

‘This isn’t a situation that any of us want to be in, but sticking with it so that we can save lives and come out of the other end of this sooner is what we need to stay focused on.’

Notes:
Details of what Level 4 entails can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-protection-levels/pages/protection-level-4/

Details of Local Authority Allocation can be found here:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-protection-levels/pages/protection-levels-by-area/

Evidence and reasoning behind allocation decisions can be found here:
https://www.gov.scot/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-protection-levels-reviews-and-evidence/

Info on Scottish Government support for business:
https://findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/