Sturgeon in plea for patience over lockdown easing

●Shielding groups can go outside for exercise ●Shops with street access open by end of the month ● Anger as hospitality outdoors to stay closed

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon yesterday urged Scotland to exercise “care and caution” as she announced the latest relaxation to lockdown rules.

From today, restrictions will begin to ease, allowing people who live alone to form an “extended household” group and meet inside, with no physical distancing.

The move, similar to the “bubbles” already in place in England, will apply to those people who live alone or who live only with children under the age of 18.

It will allow couples who do not live together and who have been separated by lockdown to be reunited – with overnight stays in these groups now permitted – and could also mean grandparents who live alone can see their grandchildren again.

The first minister confirmed Scotland has now moved into phase two of the fourpart plan for lifting lockdown, meaning non-shielding Scots can meet up with two households at the same time out of doors.

In addition, people can now go inside someone else’s house to use the toilet, which Ms Sturgeon acknowledged will “make family meetings a little bit more practical”.

Those who are shielding – who have been at home since lockdown began – are now allowed to go outside for exercise.

They can take part in non-contact outdoor sports, such as golf, and also meet people from one other household.

Further changes will come into force on Monday, with dentists allowed to reopen along with the property market.

And from June 29, non-essential shops can open again for business, provided they can be accessed directly from the street.

However, pub owners were dealt a blow when it emerged that a date for reopening beer gardens and terraces had been pushed back another two weeks.

Opposition politicians accused Ms Sturgeon of failing to fully recognise the “economic and education crisis”.

Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw accused her of a lack of “ambition”.

He also said her statement made no progress in addressing the crisis facing pupils who go back to school on a “blended learning model” from August 11, spending around half their time in school and the other learning from home.

Employees in factories, warehouses, labs and research facilities can return to work from June 29, leaving thousands trying to work out childcare arrangements.

Mr Carlaw said: “There’s a difference between adopting a cautious approach and ignoring businesses, parents, experts and teachers across the country.

“Parents will have tuned in hoping to hear some resolution on schooling.

“Instead, they’ve been fobbed off with contingency plans none of which are going to help them return to work if they have children who don’t have a school to go to.”

In a heated exchange, Ms Sturgeon insisted: “I will never take my eye off my fundamental responsibility, which is to keep this country safe and to avoid lives being lost.

“Jackson Carlaw said he would have welcomed the lifting of these restrictions I’ve announced two weeks ago. That would have been utterly reckless and would have put lives at risk.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie accused the Scottish Government of failing to deliver a “joined up approach” to lockdown, arguing Ms Sturgeon had announced a return to work for thousands of parents without “adequately explaining” who will look after their children.

He said: “There is no school yet. Childminders are limited and can be costly and grandparents and friends are still off limits.

“Yet employers will be expecting them back to work and they will no longer be able to afford to stay off work.”

However, Ms Sturgeon said the country is still facing an “unprecedented challenge”, adding that the Scottish Government is still recommending employers encourage home working and continuing to increase access to “critical childcare beyond what has been available so far”.

Stressing the virus had not gone away, Ms Sturgeon reminded the chamber that 2,464 people have now died – up two from Wednesday.

There were 11 new positive cases, taking the total to 18,077.

Ms Sturgeon said the country “must still exercise care and caution”, adding there remains a “very real risk that transmission could rise again”.

She added: “If, as I believe is the case, frustration, leading to a premature easing of too many restrictions, is our biggest risk right now, it is equally true that patience could reap our biggest rewards.”

As of Monday, face coverings will be mandatory on public transport, with a similar ruling being considered for shops.

Pubs, restaurants and gyms remain closed until a review on July 2, after emerging evidence that they can be “hotspots for transmission”.

Colin Borland, the Federation of Small Businesses’s director of devolved nations, said independent retailers up and down the country will welcome the news they have a date for reopening.

He added: “We’d urge people to back these local bookshops, corner shops and boutiques because they need your spending power like never before.”

“A very real risk that transmission could rise again”

Nicola Sturgeon must not only feel like she is walking a tightrope, but doing so under sniper fire and with a river full of hungry crocodiles waiting below for her to put a foot wrong or be knocked off her perch by a telling strike.

As she outlined the latest gradual loosening of lockdown at Holyrood yesterday, she was forced again and again to defend and justify her safetyfirst approach to steering us through the pandemic and back to a semblance of normality.

And while the frustrations and anxieties around the timetable for the back-to-school plan, the re-opening of businesses, the kick-starting of the economy and giving families the freedom to be together again are understandable, so too is the first minister’s caution when faced with making what are life and death decisions.

Our progress may appear slow, indeed glacial to some, but what must not be forgotten is that any resurgence of Covid-19 would not move at such a restrained pace.

It would be rapid and deadly, with potentially devastating impacts for the health service, society and the already beleaguered economy. Throwing away what we have achieved to date, and risking a plunge back into full lockdown, would be a catastrophe for the country.

We need to keep walking the tightrope, slowly and carefully – and keep our eyes on the main prize.

“Progress may appear slow, but any resurgence of Covid-19 would not move at such a pace”