Deputy First Minister John Swinney has written to Council Leader Adam McVey to explain yesterday's decision not to move Edinburgh into Level 2 of coronavirus restrictions.
The letter comes after Council Leaders reacted with anger and dismay to the news that the Capital would not be moving to Level 2, contrary to what had been anticipated and follows a meeting between Mr Swinney and Cllr McVey last night.
In his letter, Mr Swinney says:
A move to Level 2 in Edinburgh would mean opening up significantly more services in our second biggest city in the two weeks before Christmas. So we wanted to have as much confidence as possible that the situation is as stable as possible before we make that move.
In that context, the recent rise in cases, while relatively slight, was a cause for concern when seen against the backdrop of a much slower reduction in cases and test positivity for Edinburgh over the last two weeks than for Scotland as a whole. By the same token, while Scotland as a whole has seen declining test positivity, the test positivity for Edinburgh is rising. So, weighing the data in the wider context, we decided it was prudent to keep Edinburgh in Level 3 this week, monitor the position closely, and to review the level again next week.
Read the letter from the Deputy First Minister in full.
Councillors will debate an Emergency Motion by the Coalition at their Full Council meeting tomorrow [10 December 2020], calling on Council to agree to continue to lobby the Scottish Government and "insist the government follow scientific evidence and advice" that indicate that Edinburgh has been consistently in Level 2.