Easing lockdown restrictions over Christmas is a "mistake" which will have "consequences", a Scots public health expert has said.
Professor Linda Bauld of the University of Edinburgh said she was concerned about people travelling from areas with high infections to parts of the country with lower prevalence of the virus.
People across Scotland will be able to meet with three other households across five days in the festive period as part of a Christmas bubble plan agreed between the UK Government and devolved administrations.
READ MORE: Christmas shoppers told not to flout travel ban as police issue fines
“From a public health perspective, I have to be perfectly honest, I think this is a mistake," Professor Bauld told BBC Breakfast.
“I think people have to think very carefully whether they can see loved ones outside, or do it in a very modest way.
“I’m also concerned about the travel, people going from high to low-prevalence areas.
“I think it’s going to have consequences.”
However, Prof Bauld added if the Government reneged on the pledge then trust in politicians could erode further.
She went on: “I completely understand why governments are doing that. Behaviourally people are fed up.
“If you’re meeting people indoors from other households, there’s poor ventilation, maybe older family members are in those bubbles, unfortunately because the virus hasn’t been eliminated… I think that means the Christmas period is a risk.”
READ MORE: Lorraine Kelly condemns celebs breaking lockdown
Just because people can meet up, it does not mean they should, according to Independent Sage.
Independent Sage is also calling for a pandemic fuel allowance so people can keep their homes ventilated while at the same time turning up the heating to stay warm.
Professor Stephen Reicher, of the University of St Andrews, said: “Right now we are heading towards disaster.
“Given high levels of infection across the country and the increasing levels in some areas (such as London) it is inevitable that if we all do choose to meet up over Christmas then we will pay the price in the new year.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel