Nicola Sturgeon

COVID-19 new restrictions changes

COVID-19 restrictions changes, more people will be able to socialise outdoors

More people will be able to socialise outdoors following good progress in suppressing Coronavirus – COVID-19, the First Minister has announced.

COVID-19 restrictions changes up to four adults from two households will be able to meet locally in any outdoor space, including in private gardens, for social and recreational purposes as well as exercise from Friday 12 March.

People should only go indoors if it is essential in order to reach a back garden, or to go to the toilet.

Outdoor non-contact sports and group exercise will also resume for adults in groups of up to to 15 people from this date.

Young people aged 12 to 17 will be able to meet outdoors in groups of up to four people from four different households, participate in outdoor non-contact sports, and other organised activities in groups of up to 15 and travel across local authority boundaries to participate in such activities.

Should progress suppressing the virus continue, the Scottish Government intends to reopen places of worship with attendance limits increased from 20 to 50 where there is space for social distancing on Friday 26 March.

A final decision will be taken on Tuesday 23 March ahead of Passover, Easter, Ramadan and Vaisakhi.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:

“In recent weeks, we have seen a significant fall in new cases, deaths and hospital admissions, and the vaccination programme is progressing beyond our initial expectations.

All of this is excellent news, and provides strong grounds for hope, but that hope must also be balanced by caution.

“The changes announced today, while modest, are important, and are designed to help people’s health and well-being by enabling group exercise and allowing more social interaction.

They will also let children see more of their friends, and exercise and play more normally.

“With continued progress, we believe the reopening of places of worship can be achieved relatively safely, and will hopefully enable more people to draw strength, comfort and inspiration from acts of collective worship.

“I expect that further, more substantial changes will be possible in the weeks ahead, and I will set out as much detail as I can about that in Parliament next week.

If the data allows us to relax more restrictions more quickly than we have previously indicated, we will not hesitate to do so.

“We all have a part to play in keeping case numbers down while the vaccinators do their work, children get back to school and we all take tentative but firm steps back to life as we once knew it, so please continue to stay within the rules and follow the FACTS advice.”

Updated guidance and regulations will be published on Friday 12 March to reflect these changes.

The Scottish Government’s priority is to suppress the virus to the lowest possible level and keep it there, while we strive to return to a more normal life for as many people as possible. There are six main tools for achieving this:

the quickest practical roll-out of the vaccination programme
the most effective use of Test and Protect
applying proportionate protective measures (rules and guidance) to suppress transmission of the virus
effective measures to manage the risk of importation of the virus
supporting individuals, businesses and organisations to adhere to protective measures
providing care and support to mitigate the harms of the crisis

The six conditions for safe easing set out by the World Health Organisation are:

COVID-19 transmission is under control
sufficient health systems and public health capabilities are in place
outbreak risks are minimised in vulnerable settings
workplace preventative measures are established
risk of imported cases are managed
communities are fully engaged

Scottish government’s the 4 phases plan.

What are the four phases of the Scottish government’s plan?

Phase 1 – (yesterday) early learning and childcare and schools open for Primary 1-3 pupils and senior phase pupils for essential practical work. Limited increase in the provision for vulnerable children.

Care homes opening to facilitate meaningful contact between relatives/ friends and residents.

Phase 2 – (unlikely before 15 March) – More school reopening – Non-contact outdoor group sports for 12-17 year olds. Socialising rules eased, to allow outdoor meetings of 4 people from 2 households.

Phase 3 – (at least three weeks later – possibly 5 April) Stay-at-Home requirement removed.

Third and final phase of schools reopening if required. Places of worship can open on a restricted numbers basis.

Essential retailers list expanded slightly and click-and-collect resumes for non-essential retail.

Phase 4 – possibly 26 April) Limited other easing within Level 4, including permitting non-essential work in people’s homes. Return to variable Levels approach.

This will enable the graduated opening up of economic and social activity.

Numbers who can meet outdoors set to be increased next month

The first minister emphasises how she hopes more pupils will return to school in Scotland from 15 March.

This will involve getting the remainder of primary school pupils and more senior phase secondary pupils back into the classroom for at least part of their learning.

Ms Sturgeon adds that she also hopes to restart outdoors non contact group sports for 12-17 year olds in this phase.

And it is hoped the limit on outdoor mixing between households will be increased from four people from a maximum of two households.

SUMMARY:

The reopening of Scotland‘s economy – including shops, bars, restaurants, gyms and hairdressers – is expected to start in the last week of April, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

FM said there would be a “progressive easing” of restrictions before then, with four people from two households allowed to meet outdoors from 15 March.

All primary and more secondary school pupils could return from that date.

It is hoped to lift the stay at home restriction on 5 April.

Ms Sturgeon said it would be necessary to “rely very heavily” on restrictions to suppress the virus for “a bit longer”.

Scotland lockdown

Scotland lockdown, remain until at least the 28th of February.

Scotland lockdown will be extended until at least the end of February, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

Scotland Lockdown: The First Minister says case numbers have “stabilised”, but relaxing the rules could “quickly send the situation into reverse”.

The first minister said that despite COVID-19 case numbers having “stabilised and even declined”, any relaxation of the rules while infection rates remain high could “quickly send the situation into reverse”.

A series of new measures aimed at driving down coronavirus (COVID-19) rates in Scotland have been announced.

Current restrictions, including the ‘stay-at-home’ requirement, are set to remain in place until at least the end of February and schools will continue to be closed to most children for the rest of this month.

Nurseries and Primaries 1 to 3 are, however, now scheduled to return full-time on 22 February, subject to final confirmation two weeks from now that sufficient progress in tackling the virus has been achieved.

In an update to Parliament the First Minister confirmed that a managed quarantine system for anyone who arrives directly into Scotland regardless of which country they have come from will be introduced as soon as practicably possible.

In addition to guarding against the increased importation of new cases, access to testing to find cases and interrupt transmission already taking place in Scotland will be stepped up:

from the middle of February, routine testing of healthcare workers will be expanded to cover patient-facing primary care workers such as GPs, dentists, optometrists and pharmacists, as will testing for all patient-facing staff who work in hospices
from later this month, regular testing will be offered to support the return to schools and nurseries. Senior phase secondary school students, and all staff in primary, secondary and special schools, including school-based ELC staff, will be able to benefit from routine at-home testing two times a week
certain workplaces where the risk of transmission is greater and which provide essential or critical services, such as those within the food processing and distribution sectors and staff within emergency service control rooms, will also be supported to introduce routine workforce testing
targeted community testing will continue to be expanded – so that testing is available to people locally, regardless of whether or not they have symptoms
from mid-February tests will also be offered to all close contacts of people who have tested positive for COVID-enabling Test and Protect teams to identify their contacts and track, and break further, chains of transmission

In order to promote people’s ability to self-isolate when necessary, financial support will be significantly expanded to include all workers earning the Real Living Wage or less, as well as those in receipt of a council tax reduction because of low income. The £500 Self-Isolation Support Grant will also be extended to people who cannot work because someone they have caring responsibilities for is asked to self-isolate.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:

“As levels of the virus continue to fall in Scotland, it becomes ever more important that we stop the virus from being imported again. The threat of new variants is real and we must be ever-more vigilant.

“That is why we intend to introduce a managed quarantine requirement for anyone who arrives directly into Scotland, regardless of which country they have come from.

“We want to work with the UK Government to avoid travellers sidestepping restrictions and arriving in other parts of the UK before travelling to Scotland, however the most effective approach to prevent this and to stop new variants being imported is for the UK Government to introduce a compulsory quarantine for anyone travelling into the UK from overseas.

“Since we still have work to do these measures will not be introduced this week and more detail will follow shortly.

“We believe that targeted community testing can play a particularly valuable role in communities where prevalence is starting to rise rapidly which is why we have expanded our testing programme to identify cases and break chains of transmission.

“Lockdown is starting to slow down the virus. But we also need to pick up the pace in our vaccination programme. We are doing that and will accelerate the programme further over the next fortnight – providing that we have sufficient supplies of the vaccine – as we work towards being able to vaccinate 400,000 people a week by the end of the month. We are making rapid progress in protecting those who are most at risk from COVID-19.”

On schooling, the First Minister added:

“I am acutely aware of the pressure school closures is putting on working parents and on family life more generally.

“Our room for manoeuvre, given the current state of the pandemic, is limited. But the government is determined to use every inch of headroom we have to get children back to school.

“Based on the advice of our expert advisers, if we all agree to abide with the lockdown restrictions for a bit longer so that our progress in suppressing the virus continues, we can begin a phased, albeit gradual, return to school from 22 February.”

drug deaths emergency

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon More than £250 million for drug deaths emergency

More than £250 million for drug deaths emergency

Scotland lockdown

Strengthening Scotland lockdown restrictions

Scotland lockdown, measures to maximise the impact.

Further measures to help stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) and limit non-essential contact will be introduced this weekend.

Nobody who lives in a Level 4 area should leave or remain outside their home except for essential purposes.

Working from home arrangements will be strengthened through updated statutory guidance. Working from home should now be the default position for all businesses and services, and only those who cannot do their job from home should be asked to go to the workplace.

Scotland lockdown From Saturday non-essential click and collect retail services will be prohibited in Level 4 areas and further changes will be put in place to how services open for essential purposes operate. Timeslots will be required for collection and people should not enter a store to collect an item. Businesses providing takeaway food will also operate on a ‘non-entry’ basis only, meaning customers cannot enter the premises when placing or collecting orders.

Restrictions banning the consumption of alcohol in public places will also be introduced.

In a statement to Parliament, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:

“The situation we face in relation to the virus remains extremely serious.

“We must continue to do everything possible to reduce case numbers – this is essential to relieve the pressure on our NHS and to save lives.

“Both individually and collectively, these additional measures – in further reducing the interactions that allow the virus to spread – will help our essential efforts to suppress it.

“At this critical and dangerous moment, please: Stay Home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.”