Yousaf: Restrictions could ease at different speeds due to third wave

Parts of Scotland that have been kept under Level 2 Covid restrictions could have these removed at "different speeds" the Health Secretary has said, as he warned Scotland could be at the start of a third wave of the virus.

Humza Yousaf said the Government was still" very concerned" about the risk of" overwhelming the NHS" if corona virus cases surge again.

His comments came after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced a planned easing of coronavirus restrictions would not take place in many areas.

While Glasgow, Scotland's largest local authority, will finally move into level 2 restrictions from saturday, there are 13 local authorities: including Edinburgh and Dundee; which will not get to move down from this to Level 1.

The restrictions in place in each local council area will be reviewed on a weekly basis, Mr Yousaf pledged, as he insisted ministers "do not want to keep a local authority in any restriction for a minute longer than is necessary".

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme, he said: "The reason why we have regional variation, and we're looking at the data per local authority, is because we don't think a one size fits all approach is sensible.

"Therefore different local authorities might move to different levels at different speeds. I can not look into a crystal ball right now and tell you what local authority will be at what level, but we will review them every week and look at a range of data."

He added: "Clearly if a local authority is able to move down a level, or unfortunately if it would have to move up a level, we would make that decision as soon as we possibly can."