Shoppers warned over essential trips to supermarket

Nicola Sturgeon has told supermarket customers to wear a face mask over both their mouth and nose, shop alone and limit visits to once a week as she highlighted the Covid-19 risk in retail.

The First Minister stressed the importance of wearing a face covering properly, as she announced a further 71 deaths and 1480 positive coronavirus tests had been recorded in the past day.

She told the daily coronavirus briefing that shopping for food is now “one of the few reasons why we should be leaving our homes” – as she stressed it is not risk-free.

“The new variant is spreading faster and more easily so it is all the more important that when we do go to a shop… we take the necessary precautions,” she said.

“Remember, your face covering should be over your mouth and your nose.

“That’s really vital to make sure it’s giving you the protection that it’s designed to do but also that it’s giving the people around you maximum protection as well.”

She asked people to order their groceries online for delivery if possible, to otherwise limit visits to shops to once a week, and not to go into a shop if it is busy.

“Shop alone if you can, ” she said. “Don’t go with other people.”
The First Minister also announced extra funding to support health and social care workers.

She said £500,000 will be given to health boards and health and social care partnerships to implement requests from staff, such as for free hot drinks or snacks during breaks.

Sturgeon said: “I’m flagging this up today just as a way of underlining how much we owe our health and care workers, but also as an example of what we’re trying to do to support them in practical ways while they continue to perform such an incredible service for all of us.

“I don’t think we’ll ever be able to repay those on the front line of health and social care for everything they have done and everything they have suffered over the duration of this pandemic.

“But in every way we can, it’s important to support them and to show our gratitude.”