The First Minister and one of Scotland’s top health experts have told the country’s youth not to meet with their friends or to organise gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic.
Nicola Sturgeon and national clinical director Jason Leitch issued the stark covid-19 advice during at a Young Scot live stream on Monday morning.
The livestream with First Minister @ScotGovFM & National Clinical Director @jasonleitch has now ended.
Thank you to everyone for tuning in and a huge thank you to young people for submitting their questions🙌
📱You can catch up with the Q&A later today https://t.co/B6UxFS8SvB https://t.co/ISjldx9bzP
— Young Scot (@YoungScot) March 23, 2020
The pair fielded questions from youngsters across the country – covering topics from panic-buying to anxieties around cancelled exams.
And Mrs Sturgeon told Scotland’s youth: “I saw over the weekend people, maybe older than the people watching on here just now, who because cafes and restaurants and pubs were closed were inviting people to come and gather in their houses.
“Don’t do that. That is absolutely the wrong thing to do. It is putting you at risk. It is putting the people around you at risk.
“It is undermining what we are trying to do here, this slowing down the spread.
“We know how hard this and we hope it doesn’t have to go on any longer than absolutely necessary.
“If you find yourself in a group with your friends then stop and ask yourself why you are doing that because it is not in line with advice.”
Answering a question from one youngster whose mum is not letting her out to visit friends, Mr Leitch added: “I don’t want to be the guy who tells you you cannot see your friends, neither does the First Minister.
“If you have seen either of us in the days and weeks you’ll know how tough this is to decide these choices around the schools closing, about stopping the five-a-side football, netball clubs.
“We are not doing this lightly, but honestly, you can’t go and see your friends.
“You can’t see them because you are probably better at Facetime, Facebook video and What’s App video than your family are.”
He said the measures are needed “not to protect your pals but also to protect your family and older people around you”.