Yahoo Finance Scotland to lift last Covid lockdown restrictions on August 9
Nicola Sturgeon has announced that Scotland should be free of all Covid-19 restrictions from August 9.
The country’s First Minister was speaking as she confirmed lockdown easing would be paused for three weeks to allow more time for people to be vaccinated.
It means mainland areas will not move to the lowest level zero restrictions until 19 July. The hope is that the remaining rules will be lifted on 9 August.
Speaking to MSPs in Holyrood on Tuesday, the First Minister said: “Our assessment – on balance and assuming we meet the necessary conditions on vaccination and harm reduction – is that it would be possible and proportionate to lift the major remaining legal restrictions on 9 August.
“We will consider and make a final assessment nearer the time of whether – as we hope – this could include the lifting of the legal requirement to physically distance indoors as well as outdoors.”
She added: “The move beyond Level 0 will be a major milestone and it will signal a return to almost complete normality in our day to day lives.
“Of course, while this is a longed-for moment, it is important to recognise that we still have a difficult path to navigate over the next few weeks to meet these milestones and, even assuming we do, the pandemic will not be completely over at this stage.”
The Scottish Government will also not immediately recommend a return to office working when all restrictions are lifted.
The First Minister told MSPs Government would work with business as Scotland enters Level 0 – planned for July 19 – to devise a phased plan for the return of staff to offices.
The announcement came as all priority groups in Scotland will have been fully vaccinated by this Sunday.
The nine groups, which include everyone over the age of 50, with underlying health conditions and unpaid carers, represent 99 per cent of all Covid-19 deaths during the pandemic.
“The fact that virtually all of them will be fully vaccinated by the end of this week is hugely significant,” the First Minister said.
Scotland has recorded four new coronavirus deaths and 2,167 new cases in the past 24 hours, according to latest figures.
The lifting of lockdown comes despite the new Covid-19 cases marking the highest daily figure since January 8.
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