Kids under 12 in Scotland WON’T count towards 6-person limit – but they will in England

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KIDS under 12 years old in Scotland WON’T count towards the new six person limit for social gatherings, the First Minister announced today.

Nicola Sturgeon refused to follow the PM’s lead by including children in the six-person rule in England as she announced the new restrictions for people meeting up at home, the pub or outdoors, this lunchtime.

Nicola Sturgeon introduced the new restrictions this afternoon

Boris Johnson announced the new rules for England last night

Ms Sturgeon said it will be illegal to meet with more than six people at a time from Monday and the group can only be made up of two households.

But the First Minister made the rules different to those in England by allowing children under 12 to not be counted as part of the group.

She said: “The pandemic is at this stage accelerating again – albeit, and thankfully, from a low base and not as rapidly as it was back in March and April.”

Ms Sturgeon said today that the latest estimates of the R number in Scotland – the average number of people infected by each person with the virus – could be as high 1.5.

Some people have joked that the First Minister chose to exclude kids from the six person limit “just to be different”.

Others suggested she did it so that she could “look like a hero” while Boris Johnson was forced to tell families they wouldn’t be allowed to meet up altogether.

The latest estimates show the R number in Scotland – the average number of people infected by each person with the virus – could be as high as 1.5.

People accused Ms Sturgeon of trying to play the hero
Others mocked her for wanting to be different from England
One suggested the rules were ridiculous as children can still catch Covid

“I understand how hard this is, and for young people especially. It is not their fault. They are more likely to work in public facing jobs, take transport, live in shared households,” Ms Sturgeon said.

She also confirmed that planned reopenings of sports stadia and theatres for audience would not be able to go ahead, and was given a fresh date of October 5.

Previously, people could meet in groups of up to eight from three households indoors and 15 from five households outdoors.

There are exemptions for events including funerals, weddings and civil partnerships which are allowed up to 20 people.

And schools and universities will remain open and not effected by the change.

Coronavirus cases across the UK have soared over the last few days, and there were 161 fresh infections in Scotland in the last 24 hours.

The First Minister said the decision to cut social gathering numbers was “the only responsible decision we can reach”.

Offices which still have staff working from home, including call centres, will “definitely not take place” before October 1.

“For now, working from home will remain the default position,” she said.

More than 1.1 million people in Scotland have to follow even tough lockdown rules and bans on home visits after outbreaks of the virus.

People in Glasgow city, West Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire have all been told not to see each other in homes.

And East Dunbartonshire and Renfrewshire were given the ban on home visits earlier this week.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said acting quickly now could “stem the tide of transmission” in the area.