FIRST minister Nicola Sturgeon is asking people to reduce their socialising over the Hogmanay/New Year period as much as they can in a bid to help reduce the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. Her New Year message comes as Scotland reports almost 12,000 new cases today (Friday), 15 of these in Shetland. Despite […] Shetland News …
THE SCOTTISH Parliament was recalled virtually this afternoon (Wednesday) as first minister Nicola Sturgeon made a statement in response to the high number of Covid cases over the Christmas period, with figures showing more than 10,000 cases across Scotland on 26 and 27 December. A further 80 cases have been recorded by NHS Shetland since […] Shetland News …
FRUSTRATION among local businesses and politicians has continued this week in the absence of any announcement from the Scottish Government regarding changes to Covid-19 restrictions from the end of this month. The government consulted islanders on whether they would prefer greater local freedoms in exchange for continued travel restrictions when the rest of Scotland unlocks […] Shetland News …
SURVEY work in preparation to lay subsea cables that will provide superfast broadband to communities in Unst, Yell, Whalsay and Fair Isle will get underway this summer, the Scottish Government has announced. It comes just days after a subsea cable was laid across Yell Sound by Shetland Telecom to deploy fibre to Yell and Unst […] Shetland News …
THE SCOTTISH Government has finally given a commitment to consider introducing Covid-19 testing at island entry points, according to the three parliamentarians from the Northern Isles. The isles’ Lib Dems have been calling for such a move since the end of last year. On Friday afternoon, Shetland MSP Beatrice Wishart and her Orkney colleague Liam […] Shetland News …
THE OWNER of a wildlife sanctuary in Shetland has welcomed new legislation which bans the shooting of seals in Scotland as of this month. Under previous regulations the shooting of seals by salmon farmers and other commercial fisheries interests was permitted under licence. Environmental campaigner Pete Bevington of Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary said the new law, […] Shetland News …
NORTHERN Isles MP Alistair Carmichael has criticised the UK Chancellor’s spending review for a lack of ambition in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and just five weeks ahead of the EU transition period ending. The topic of Brexit was notable by its absence in Rishi Sunak’s address to the House of Commons on Wednesday, […] Shetland News …