PLANE CRAZY
Coronavirus Scotland: Nicola Sturgeon defends Spain air bridge U-turn as UK Government prepared to declare it unsafe
by Chris Musson · The Scottish SunSCOTS faced confusion tonight after Nicola Sturgeon vowed to lift 14-day quarantine rules on travel from Spain — as UK ministers considered a fresh clampdown amid a surge in Costa coronavirus cases.
The First Minister defended a U-turn on her Scotland to Spain air bridge ban today.
Ms Sturgeon confirmed she’d be relaxing our 14-day quarantine rule for those flying home from the popular destination.
But in England — where return travel had been allowed without isolation — Whitehall sources warned the Costas and Balearics could become off-limits again after coronavirus cases rocketed three-fold since the end of its lockdown.
Data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control showed that on July 8 — when Ms Sturgeon vetoed a Spanish air bridge — the seven-day average for positive tests was 408. By July 20, it had rocketed to 1,269.
And on Monday, Spain saw a huge leap of 4,581 new cases, with experts calling it a “massive test” of the Government’s travel corridor policy.
In contrast, Portugal — denied a spot on the ‘safe list’ by both UK and Scottish ministers in the first quarantine review — had just 135 new cases and will be deemed danger-free by Westminster next week, insiders claimed.
Ms Sturgeon revealed Scotland’s rules would be relaxed when Holyrood regulations are altered within days.
She was quizzed on her government’s change of heart yesterday, which came after pressure from airline and travel industry bosses.
Asked if the decision to add Spain to the “green” list was due to lobbying from the sector, the SNP leader said: “No, these decisions are taken with great care.
“We take the decisions we think are right and strike the best balance in all the circumstances.”
Edinburgh Airport chief executive Gordon Dewar tonight called the change a “welcome development” but warned having missed most of the summer season “will directly impact on jobs”.
In a joint letter with union Unite, the airport asked to meet Ms Sturgeon to discuss its future as it estimated up to 2,000 of 7,000 roles could vanish in the economic slump.
The SNP leader said the latest Covid risk “assessment” used “prevalence data”, measuring the overall level of people infected, not daily cases, from the UK Government’s Joint Biosecurity Centre.
On July 8, she claimed Spain’s virus number was around “330 people in every 100,000” — “more than 10 times the estimated rate for Scotland”. She did not give the current figure today.
But she said: “The latest information is that the prevalence has dropped quite considerably in Spain and that’s the basis for the decision we’re taking. We keep this under very, very close review.”
However, deputy head of Spain’s Centre for Health Emergencies Maria Jose Sierra said on Monday prevalence there had risen from eight cases per 100,000 at the end of June to 27 per 100,000.
A Scottish Government modelling report, published on July 16, had estimated just 500 people in Scotland — or nine per 100,000 — would be infectious on July 17, falling to 400 on July 24.
But Ms Sturgeon said of the anticipated Spanish air bridge go-ahead: “None of these decisions are in a cast of stone at the moment.
“We have to be very vigilant about the situation in the rest of the world, just as we have to be very vigilant about the situation in Scotland, where decisions have to be taken to keep this virus under control.”
UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps previously said air bridges would be determined by factors including “prevalence...new cases and potential trajectory”.
There had been complaints from industry chiefs that blanket restrictions across the whole of Spain were unfair.
Some nightclubs and bars in Cordoba, Valencia and around Barcelona have been forced to shut again after a spate of fresh cases linked to partying.
France has said it’s “monitoring” the outbreak as it mulls over closing the border with its Spanish neighbours.
Westminster will next week decide on the 25 quarantine-free links to other countries — while ditching three-week reviews in favour of a “rolling system” which would add or drop countries as bug stats vary.
Tonight, the Scottish Government wouldn’t comment on Spain’s prevalence rate, insisting that it was Westminster’s data to issue.
A spokesman added: “Data received from the UK Government in the last week puts the prevalence of the virus in Spain at around the same level as that in Scotland — and public health measures are understood to be in place in relation to recent outbreaks.”