Sturgeon: We can’t live like this and we need normality
NICOLA Sturgeon has admitted Scots ‘can’t live like this for ever’ as she prepares to publish a blueprint for easing lockdown rules.
The country ‘needs to get some normality back’, the First Minister insisted yesterday.
She is due to outline ‘minor changes’ to restrictions next week.
At the daily briefing on the Covid19 pandemic, Miss Sturgeon said a further 46 people had died, taking Scotland’s death toll to 2,053.
She added that 143 people had tested positive for coronavirus in the previous 24 hours, with 1,449 people now in hospital – and 71 patients in intensive care units.
Miss Sturgeon said last week that Scots could exercise more than once a day but has yet to ease other lockdown restrictions.
However, she pledged to look at moves elsewhere in the UK, such as the reopening of garden centres.
Miss Sturgeon acknowledged that the death rate has been falling over the past two weeks, and measures can be relaxed when ‘we hopefully see more evidence of a downward trend in the virus’.
She said: ‘We can’t live like this for ever, so we need to get some normality back as we continue to suppress the virus.
‘Even when we can’t yet give firm dates on when things will open up again, at least we will seek to share with you the order of priority and further phasing.
‘Next week I will share with you more information on the assessments we are making and the range of options we are now looking at, and also any further minor changes we might make in the short-term.’
Miss Sturgeon has said she wants to have a ‘grown-up’ conversion with Scots on reversing lockdown, and intends to publish further detail on this next week.
The Scottish Government has already produced a document setting out how schools could reopen
and indicating that outdoor-based activities would be among the first to resume.
It warned that pubs and restaurants would likely be the last businesses allowed to open, while retailers will be forced to ensure social distancing is possible for staff and customers.
Miss Sturgeon has also pledged to look into how people can be allowed to see their families. She said: ‘A life where you go to work but stay locked down with no family interaction for the rest of the time is not one many of us, if any of us, would enjoy.’
Miss Sturgeon also boasted of a poll showing ‘widespread endorsement’ of her approach to dealing with the pandemic. It comes after the Scottish Government decided to keep the ‘Stay Home’ message, which has been replaced in England by ‘Stay Alert’.
Miss Sturgeon said the poll found that 84 per cent of people agreed with a ‘slow and gradual’ lifting of lockdown. She added: ‘The bond of understanding between Government and the public is currently very strong.’