ALL four UK governments have released a joint statement warning the country is seeing "the start of a second wave" of coronavirus.
The UK Government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive released the stark update as strict new rules were brought in for students in Scotland.
They said: "Covid-19 threatens lives, health, prosperity and our way of life.
"We have taken action to protect the health of our citizens, communities, and economies.
"However, the threat remains all too real."
They said cases are "rising rapidly and we must take action to stop an exponential increase that could overwhelm our health services".
The governments reaffirmed their shared commitment to suppressing the virus to the lowest possible level and keeping it there, while striving to return life to as normal as possible.
They pledged to work to provide tests to those with symptoms and trace their contacts, and to respond quickly to any localised outbreaks.
They said they will prepare for the pressures the winter will bring and seek to protect the most vulnerable in society from the effects of the virus, while helping the economy and society recover.
They also pledged to work towards reaching a long-term solution in the form of a treatment or vaccine as soon as possible.
The governments said they are committed to maintaining transparency and openness with the public, coordinating and cooperating as much as possible and sharing and acting on the best data, research and science.
They said: "The ongoing fight against Covid-19 will continue to require much from us all, wherever we live.
"We ask that everybody endeavours to adhere to the rules and advice designed for our safety, as this is the only way to keep the virus suppressed, and make further progress on the path back to normality.
"Failing to do so will put everyone else at risk.
"So in the weeks and months ahead we must carry on pulling together to protect and care for those most at risk, and keep the virus under control."
Students in Scotland have been told not to go to pubs this weekend under tough new rules.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel