Restrictions on outdoor gatherings eased by FM

Rules on outdoor meeting in Scotland will ease from Friday, Nicola Sturgeon has announced. Updating MSPs at the Scottish Parliament in the latest lockdown review, she said up to four adults from two households will be able to meet outside then.

At the moment, coronavirus regulations restrict meetings to two adults from two households for essential exercise.

The first minister also announced a relaxation in rules for those aged 12-17 meeting outside, who can meet in groups of up to four from up to four households from Friday.

Outdoor meetings will be allowed for social and recreational purposes, as well as essential exercise.

Outdoor, non-contact sports for adults in groups of up to 15 can restart from the same date.

Ms Sturgeon said while travel restrictions cannot be lifted for adults, they will be eased slightly for children taking part in sport where their club may be “a bit outside” their council area.

She also announced communal worship will be able to restart from Friday, March 26, and the previously proposed limit of 20 will be increased to 50, where two-metre physical distancing can be accommodated.

Ms Sturgeon said “strong grounds for hope” are provided by a “significant” fall in new cases in recent weeks, along with falling numbers of deaths and hospital admissions.

She said the vaccination programme is “progressing beyond our initial expectations” as almost 40% of the Scottish population had a first dose but warned of the need for caution in easing to avoid a more infectious variant of the virus, which accounts for almost 90% of cases, running out of control.

The first minister said: “That is why the changes I have announced today are modest.

“But they are also important. They will, I hope, help people’s health and wellbeing, by enabling group exercise, and allowing for a bit more social interaction.

“They will also, I hope, let children see more of their friends, and exercise and play a bit more normally.

“And they should provide some comfort for faith groups.”

Giving an update on the latest coronavirus figures, Ms Sturgeon said Scotland has recorded the deaths of 19 coronavirus patients and 466 new cases in the past 24 hours.

This takes the death toll under this measure, of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days, to 7,441.

The daily test positivity rate is 3%, down from 5% on Monday.

There are 614 people in hospital confirmed to have the virus, down 40 in 24 hours, and 50 are in intensive care, down nine.

A total of 1,789,377 people have received their first dose of a vaccine as of yesterday morning.

“They will, I hope, help people’s health and wellbeing

UPDATE: First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said up to four adults from two households will be able to meet outside.