Ninewells could run out of beds in just six weeks if new stricter rules for Dundee do not dent rising hospital admissions, Nicola Sturgeon warned as she confirmed the city was going into Tier 3 of Covid-19 regulations.
Dundee East MSP Shona Robison raised the issue at First Minister’s Questions, asking what the city can do to “blunt the rises” and move out of the stricter controls.
Ms Sturgeon said: “The projections around NHS Tayside are part of the reason we have taken the decision today around Dundee City.
“This action is designed to take Tayside, and Dundee in particular, off the path it is currently on and avoid these projections coming to pass.
“My plea to people across Dundee and also the wider Tayside region is to abide strictly by all of the advice and all of the regulations in order that these decisions and the actions that we have taken have the best possible chance of working.”
Report also says there are early signs of a blunting of rises in indicators in Dundee which will be “fully considered in depth in future reviews” so critical we all do what we can to further blunt those rises to get Dundee out of level 3 ASAP https://t.co/wUt0dJ16As
— Shona Robison MSP (@ShonaRobison) October 29, 2020
A Scottish Government report estimates demand will exceed capacity within six weeks across Tayside.
It does note however that there are “early signs” the rises are “blunting” and this will be considered in- depth in a review of tiers on November 10.
Dundee was the only place in Scotland to suffer a level rise, from Monday, following a local spike in the infection rate.
Neighbouring Perth and Kinross and Angus Council areas will be placed under Tier 2 restrictions despite a bid by NHS Tayside to have them under the same level as Dundee.
The health authority believes its infrastructure could some under pressure from outside the city if the rise in cases continues.
