'Moray rule breakers are now harming lockdown recovery'
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A senior health expert has warned that Moray's Covid-19 recovery is lagging behind other areas of NHS Grampian due to lockdown rule breakers.
Dr Derek Cox, a consultant in public health with NHS Grampian, has raised deep concerns that the number of cases in Moray is now ten times greater than it was six months ago.
He said: "Towards the end of last year you were in a fantastic situation in Moray.
"But that is not the case today."
Dr Cox states that Moray is now in serious danger of being freed from lockdown restrictions later than other areas in Scotland.
He said: "We're afraid the precautions are not working terribly well in Moray at the moment.
"Keeping your distance from people should be easier right now with lockdown in place.
"But we worry that rule fatigue and a certain amount of complacency might be occurring.
"There's a fear now vaccinations are under way that people might think they don't need to worry so much any more.
"But the vaccinations take a month to take effect.
"It's older people who are being vaccinated at the moment, but we are concerned that the spread of the virus may be more down to the younger age group, especially those aged between 20 and 40.
"The problem is community transmission.
"We are worried that the interactions in Moray are higher than they should be."
Back in September there were just 6.3 Covid cases in Moray per 100,000 people.
That figure has since increased ten-fold and now stands at 71 Covid cases per 100,000.
Although the number of cases have fallen from January when they peaked at about 108, they are still coming down much more slowly than in Aberdeenshire (37) and Aberdeen City (27).
Dr Cox added: "It would be a great pity if Moray was the last place in the Grampian region to get its pubs open.
"Maybe some people thought it was a bit unfair for Moray to go straight from Tier One to full Tier Four lockdown on Boxing Day.
"Maybe some people thought it could never happen in Moray but, by Jove, it has."
Dr Cox drew particular attention to infection rates in Keith, which he said "have been high for weeks now".
He called on people to concentrate on washing their hands, wiping down surfaces and wearing face coverings.
However, he added that maintaining social distancing "trumped" every other measure in terms of limiting the spread of the virus.
Dr Cox added: "Despite falling rates the number of patients in Grampian hospitals and intensive care units are still higher than during the initial wave back in March and April last year."
