The Scottish Government said it was “closely monitoring” the situation, but hoped that Glasgow would move to level two restrictions as planned on Monday.
While genomic testing has yet to be completed, it is believed that at least some of the new cases are the variant of concern first identified in India, B16172. A total of 35 cases of this variant have been confirmed in Scotland, although some data suggests the figure may be higher.
Sign up to our public interest bulletins - get the latest news on the Coronavirus
Sign up to our public interest bulletins - get the latest news on the Coronavirus
Moray to remain in level three on Monday as most of Scotland moves to level two
Updated: May 14, 2021, 5:46 pm
Sign up for our daily newsletter featuring the top stories from The Press and Journal.
Thank you for signing up to The Press and Journal newsletter.
Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up
Moray is to remain in Level three of Scotland’s coronavirus tiered system for at least another week, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced.
The region, which has been plagued by rising cases of Covid-19 in recent weeks, has been kept in the heightened level of restrictions as the rest of mainland Scotland moves to Level 2 from Monday.
Updated: May 14, 2021, 7:27 pm
Sign up for our daily newsletter featuring the top stories from The Press and Journal.
Thank you for signing up to The Press and Journal newsletter.
Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up
Moray will remain under Level 3 of Covid restrictions for at least a further week.
Financial help will be offered to businesses in the regions, with £375,000 given to Moray Council to help with this.
Ms Sturgeon said that this was a “difficult” decision but she was “optimistic” that the region could move to Level 2 when the situation is reviewed at the end of next week.
Covid-19 vaccinations are also being offered to under 40s. Door-to-door testing was previously being “heavily considered” for Elgin, the epicentre of the outbreak, but Deputy director of public health at NHS Grampian, Chris Littlejohn, said they have no plans to progress that. He said: “We’ve been so encouraged by the response from the community to testing that, at the moment, we’ve no plans to progress to door-to-door testing anywhere in Moray – if that changes we will ensure we communicate it to the community. “The number of people coming forward for testing has increased and that it was possible the outbreak in Elgin may be starting to plateau – but it could be a further two weeks before figures show real signs of returning to normal and we cannot afford for any complacency at this point.