Face mask rules remain

Laws on wearing face masks in Scotland will remain for at least two more weeks, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

The First Minister has asked people to ‘be patient for a little while longer’ as requirements to keep wearing face coverings in shops and when on public transport will carry on until the situation is reviewed in early April. She described it as ‘prudent’.

Despite a surge of Covid cases, with a new higher-transmissible strain of Omicron, social distancing rules in shops and other indoor public settings will still be lifted on Monday.

Other restrictions such as a need for venues to collect contact details will also be removed on Monday.

There is no evidence the BA.2 strain of the virus is causing more severe illness than the original form of Omicron BA.1, or that it is more effective at evading natural or vaccine immunity said Ms Sturgeon, who stressed the importance of people getting vaccinated.

It currently presents a medium threat, but the First Minister said there is optimism that it will move to become a low threat over spring.

Contact tracing will finish at the end of April, physical test sites will also close then, but mobile testing units and lab capacity will be kept for longer term testing purposes.