Aberdeen, Scotland's 3rd-largest city, put on lockdown

By Karim El-Bar

LONDON (AA) – Aberdeen, Scotland’s third most-populous city, was put into lockdown on Wednesday after a rise in coronavirus cases, local media reported.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said pubs, cafes, restaurants, and all other indoor and outdoor venues must close by 5 p.m. today, and that people should not travel into the city, and those within the city should not go to each other’s homes.

At least 54 new cases have been recorded into the northeastern port city, and the outbreak is thought to have originated in a bar.

“I know this is deeply, deeply unwelcome news for people in Aberdeen and I’m deeply sorry that we’re in this position,” she said at her daily coronavirus press briefing. “We need to take decisive action now in order to prevent a larger outbreak and further harm later on.”

Sturgeon said she would review the lockdown in a week’s time.

The UK government announced on Wednesday that a further 65 people across Britain died of coronavirus over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 46,364.

Over the same period, 892 more Brits tested positive, bringing the total to 307,184.