NICOLA Sturgeon has told people of all ages still having house parties to “take a look at themselves” after police were called to hundreds of gatherings in Scotland over the weekend.
Officers were needed to break up “at least” 300 house parties over Friday, Saturday and Sunday – while more than 100 fines were issued and 14 people were arrested.
The crackdown comes after a Scotland-wide ban on people visiting the homes of those in other households in a bid to curb a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases.
Students were also asked by university bosses to not socialise or visit pubs and restaurants over the weekend – but the First Minister stressed that the police enforcement was not solely driven by the behaviour of students.
READ MORE: SNP accused of 'muddying the waters' with confusion over university rules
Speaking at her daily coronavirus briefing, Ms Sturgeon said: “These figures have to be seen in the context of a population of 5.4 million people, so let’s first of all put it in perspective, the vast majority of people in Scotland in my experience… are abiding by the rules and they have my deep appreciation for that.
“Anybody who is not, and particularly anybody who is flagrantly breaching very clear rules against house parties should really take a look at themselves, because we know house parties are one of the risk factors that cause this virus to spread.”
READ MORE: Teachers warn schools are no longer 'Covid safe' after cases soar
She added: “House gatherings perhaps is a better description because I think when you say house party people think of events with dozens of people there – this could be a smaller number of people with different households mixing.
“It is not the case that all of these 300 house parties, or anything like it, were students. These were incidents that the police were called to that span the age spectrum and everything.
“Don’t any of us think this is all a problem of students, this about all of our responsibilities. So please abide by the rules and for people who don’t the police will take action.”
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