Finally! Sturgeon axes virus curbs indoors as infections fall rapidly
COVID restrictions are to be lifted in Scotland from Monday after Nicola Sturgeon yesterday revealed the country has ‘turned the corner on the Omicron wave’.
She confirmed the measures – a limit on the numbers at indoor events, table service only at bars and the closure of nightclubs – will be eased from January 24.
The first minister, who has been criticised for introducing extra-cautious rules, said guidance limiting gatherings to a maximum of three households will also end on the same date, along with restrictions on indoor contact sports.
She also said there would be no extension to vaccine passports, stating: ‘Given that cases are now falling quite rapidly and the current wave is receding, we decided that we will not at this stage extend the Covid certification scheme to other premises.’
The announcement comes the day after the Scottish government lifted its cap on numbers at outdoor events. Speaking at Holyrood, Miss Sturgeon said: ‘Although significant pressures and uncertainties remain, the data gives us confidence that we have turned the corner on the Omicron wave.
She added that over the last week the number of people testing positive with a PCR test had fallen from ‘an average of almost 13,000 a day to just over 4,600’ – a drop of 64 per cent.
Her comments came as latest figures show Scotland recorded another 7,752 Covid infections, along with a further 31 deaths yesterday. The number of people in hospital with the virus has fallen by 21 to 1,546, with 59 in intensive care – a rise of one.