Free & easing
At last, Scots will be able to meet up indoors again and enjoy a drink in a pub as Covid rules relaxed
SCOTS will be allowed to meet indoors and drink alcohol inside a pub from next Monday under a relaxation of restrictions, Nicola Sturgeon will today confirm.
She is set to reveal Scotland will move to Level 2 of the five-tier system in the next step out of lockdown.
This will be the first time much of the country has managed to get below Level 3 since the system was introduced last year – and is a significant step towards normality.
The move will allow bars and restaurants to serve alcoholic drinks inside up to 10.30pm – with six people from three households able to meet in a public venue.
Families and friends will also be allowed to meet up inside their homes for the first
‘We need to remain vigilant’
time in 2021, with up to four people from two households.
There will also be a rise in the number of people who can meet up outdoors – with eight people from eight households, including in beer gardens.
Cinemas, bingo halls, theatres, amusement arcades, comedy halls and music venues will also be able to open – with a maximum of 100 people, and strict guidance on social distancing and face coverings.
The changes will be confirmed by Miss Sturgeon today at her latest coronavirus briefing.
However, public health officials have warned that Moray could remain in Level 3 – which would see travel restrictions imposed – due to an outbreak of the virus.
Miss Sturgeon said: ‘Guiding the country safely through the rest of the pandemic is my number one priority. Today we will outline those latest steps in lifting restrictions, while also making clear that we need to remain vigilant against any resurgence in Covid levels.’
Scotland recorded 168 new cases of coronavirus but no deaths in the past 24 hours, according to the latest figures.
The death toll under this daily measure – of people who first tested positive within the previous 28 days – remains at 7,661.
The daily test positivity rate on Sunday was 1.6 per cent, up from 1.5 per cent the previous day, while 72 people are in hospital with recently confirmed Covid-19 – six of them in intensive care.
So far, 2,909,156 people have received their first coronavirus vaccination, with 1,485,296 having had the second dose.
The move to Level 2 will also allow Scots to travel to stay with friends and family across the UK, or stay with one other household in self-catering accommodation. Under Level 2 restrictions, the Scottish Government is also expected to allow crowds of up to 500 people.
Stadium events will be allowed to take place, with covid measures in place.
Outdoor seated and open-space events can have up to 500 people, with 250 people allowed to attend standing events. Small seated indoor events can have up to 100 in attendance.
However, there will be no fans allowed at the Scottish Cup Final on May 22 at Hampden.
Meanwhile, John Swinney yesterday said coronavirus will be under control by the end of this year. The Deputy First Minister said he believes the country is moving to a period now when ‘Covid becomes much less of an immediate epidemiological threat’.
Mr Swinney pointed to the continued successful rollout of the vaccine across the UK and the lockdown measures which have helped to suppress the virus. He
‘Make sure we’re in stable position’
told the BBC that an independence referendum should go ahead when coronavirus is suppressed and ‘stable’. And he said it would be for the SNP to judge when the pandemic is over.
Mr Swinney told Good Morning Scotland that it was an ‘aspiration’ for the virus to be consistently suppressed by the end of the year.
Miss Sturgeon has argued that there should be a second inde
pendence referendum once the country emerges from the immediate crisis of the pandemic.
The SNP manifesto said another vote on independence should be held before the end of 2023 if the Covid-19 crisis was over.
Asked how that would be determined, Mr Swinney said it would be when coronavirus has been consistently suppressed and the vaccine and testing systems are operating effectively.
He said: ‘We judge it by a combination of things – the actions that we’ve got to take to suppress the prevalence of the virus, and to make sure that we are in a stable position.
‘Secondly, that we are able to sustain that position to make sure that we’ve got the necessary infrastructure in place to ensure that the virus is suppressed.’
Mr Swinney added: ‘If the pandemic meets those tests, then obviously we are able to consider the whole question of the timing of the referendum on independence.’