PEOPLE arriving in Scotland from overseas today who do not self-isolate for 14 days will be fined up to £480 and could face court action under new rules.
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf made the announcement as quarantine measures come into force across the UK. They apply to anyone entering the country, including British citizens returning from abroad.
Speaking at the Scottish Government’s daily briefing on the pandemic, Yousaf said the “range of measures will be broadly similar across the four nations of the UK”.
He said: “Anyone travelling to Scotland from abroad must self-isolate on arrival for 14 days. This time period reflects the incubation period for the virus.
“Arrivals to Scotland will be required to fill in the passenger locator form before they travel, including details of where they will isolate and how they can be contacted.
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“Border Force will have responsibility for enforcing this requirement though spot checks. The information provided by travellers will be used to allow for some of those arriving into Scotland to be contacted during their time of self-isolation, to provide public health advice information and guidance.”
Yousaf also confirmed the new rules will allow Police Scotland to issue fixed penalty notices of up to £480 “to anyone failing to comply with self-isolation conditions”. He also warned that “persistent offenders” can be reported to the Procurator Fiscal.
He added: “I do think these will act as appropriate deterrents. My hope is, of course, that deterrent action will not be needed.
“We have, of course, devised the regulations that are fit for Scotland, that are appropriate for Scotland.”
Border Force is able to issue penalty notices of £30 for a “failure to disclose appropriate information” about where people are self-isolating and contact details. This fine can be doubled for each offence, up to a maximum of £480.
The Justice Secretary stressed that police enforcement action would act “only as a last resort if necessary” but would act as a “very strong” deterrent.
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The announcement came as official figures show no new coronavirus deaths were reported in Scotland in the last 24 hours for the first time since lockdown began.
A total of 2415 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for Covid-19, Scottish Government data published yesterday reveal.
This is no change on Saturday’s figure and the first time the death total has remained the same since March 20.
The Scottish Government figures also show that 15,621 people have tested positive for Covid-19, an increase of 18 on Saturday, June 6.
Scotland’s Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said she would offer a “note of caution” about reading too much into Sunday’s figures.
She said: “We know that fewer deaths tend to be registered at the weekend than on other days of the week; it is still very likely that further Covid-19 deaths will be reported in the days ahead.”
Of those who tested positive, 646 were in hospital on Saturday evening, 16 of whom were in intensive care, while nine others were in intensive care with suspected Covid-19.
Freeman dismissed as “nonsense” suggestions the Scottish Government has been trying to hide the scale of the problem of the spread of coronavirus in hospitals after it emerged more than 900 patients have caught the disease in non-Covid wards, with at least 218 dying since the start of the outbreak.
She was accused of keeping the scale of the figures under wraps after saying on Thursday there were only 125 “incidents” of suspected Covid-19 transmission in hospital.
Freeman said the discrepancy could be explained by the need to validate whether patients had acquired the virus in hospital or were already incubating it when they were admitted. Asked for her response to accusations of trying to hide the scale of the problem, she replied: “Absolutely not. I’m not trying to conceal anything.”
Over the weekend, Scottish Labour called for an independent investigation into the spread of the virus in hospitals.
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