Sturgeon to set dates for ending lockdown
Nicola Sturgeon will today set out Scotland’s route out of coronavirus lockdown.
But, despite plans to reveal dates at the Parliament for when stayat-home orders might be lifted and for relaxation of rules over meeting people from other households, shopping and hospitality, the First Minister warned the country must “continue to be careful”.
Sturgeon will today set out Scotland’s route out of coronavirus lockdown with dates for when the stay-at-home order might be lifted, further relaxation around meeting people from other households, and a return to shopping and outdoor and indoor hospitality.
But the First Minister yesterday warned the country must “continue to be careful” in its easing of restrictions ahead of the announcements to be made to the Scottish Parliament.
The warning comes after five major hospitality industry bodies issued a joint letter to the Scottish Government yesterday calling for an accelerated route out of lockdown more in line with that laid out for England by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The group called for changes to the existing levels system of restrictions in Scotland, which Ms Sturgeon said was under review by the Scottish Governnicola ment. But Ms Sturgeon would not be drawn on further details yesterday, maintaining only the plans will be“realistic and feasible”, and that she will“try to give as much clarity as far ahead as it is possible to do”.
She said the Scottish Government had considered some changes to the content of the levels.
“As well as deciding when we think the whole of the country that’s currently in level four will be able to come down to level three, we’ll be looking at, based on our experience, based on the greater transmissibility of the virus, whether we need to modify the content of the levels ,” she said.
"That has been part of the process that we have been undertaking,but i’ ll set that out to parliament tomorrow .”
Ms Sturgeon said the country “remains in a volatile situation ”, and that “we have got to continue to be careful in terms of how we come out of this lockdown”.
"As soon as we start to lift restrictions, transmission will increase, and we know this is a faster spreading variant of the virus than the one we faced coming out of lockdown last year,” she said. “That’s what we have to balance.”
But there is scope to begin “significantly ea sing restrictions” from the middle of April, after everyone over 50 is offered their first dose of covid-19 vaccine, ms Sturgeon said.
Asked about the claims from hospitality groups that a slower easing of lockdown in Scotland than in England would put them at a disadvantage, Ms Sturgeon said: “I want to treat everybody fairly, but I want to treat the people of Scotland fairly by making sure we don’t let this virus get out of control again and set us all back.
"I have no interest in keeping any part of the country in lockdown any longer than is necessary.”
She said: "I will seek to set out some details of what changes we hope to make in early April ... then what further easing we might then expect to see in late April, and then mid-may and in much less detail beyond that. "We can't provide certainty on everything at this stage."
Some key measures she highlighted include the proposed end of the stay-at-home rule ;the re opening of shopping; outdoor and later indoor hospitality; and further relaxation to meeting other households.
While the first minister again reiterated we "can't afford to simply throw caution to the wind", today’s statement will show "hope we now have for the future", she said.
Her statement comes after the Scottish Hospitality Group (SHG), UK Hospitality Scotland, Scottish Licensed Trade Associ at ion (sl ta ), night time Industries Association (NTIA) and the Scottish Beer & Pub Association called on the government to abandon its “data, not dates” approach based on public health markers.
The group presented research from economic consultancy firm big gar economics, commissioned by Diageo, which found that under the previous level three framework, 54 per cent of hospitality businesses in Scotland could operate, generating a £269 million turnover and supporting almost 22,000 jobs.
The alliance of hospitality groups wants social distancing restrictions to be removed in venues from as early as 28 june.
Ms Sturgeon also said she could not rule out the possibility that a rise in cases over the past week was linked to the return of schooling.
She said: "It is important to note that over the past seven days we have actually seen a slight increase in cases and we will be monitoring that carefullyand it does provide us with a reminder that there is still no room for complacency and that our room for manoeuvre is limited ."
Children in P1-P3 returned to Scotland' s schools on february 22. Yesterday, they were joined by classmates inp4-p 7, with secondaryschool pupils returning to in-class learning part time.
Ms Sturgeon said: "Can we rule out a link between schools partially reopening and a bit of an uptick in cases? No, I don't think we can. And that will not be because particularly of transmission within schools but we know that when schools open there is just a little bit more movement generally as parents take children to school for example."
Also speaking during the briefing, the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Gregor Smith, said the rise in cases was" not as great a si had wondered that we might see" and that he was "not overly concerned".
He said: "We knew that as schools went back it a always going to be the possibility that, as people could go about their lives more, there would be more contact of one sort or another and that could lead to more transmission and I think that is exactly what we are seeing being played through in the figures just now."
The latest corona virus figures show 456 positive coronavirus tests were recorded in the previous 24 hours. No new deaths were recorded, meaning the death toll under this measure - of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days - remains at 7,510.