First Minister announces Scotland's move into phase three of lockdown exit
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Nicola Sturgeon has announced Scotland will move into phase three of the route out of lockdown in what she called “the highest-risk changes we have made so far”.
The measures will start to take effect from tomorrow and will extend into next month, constituting the most significant easing of the lockdown yet and the return of large swathes of the tourist and retails sectors.
From Monday, non-essential shops inside shopping centres can reopen with physical distancing, as can organised outdoor contact sports, play and physical activity for children and young people under 18 subject to guidance.
Dental practices can start seeing registered patients but only for non-aerosol routine care – so drills and the like cannot be used. Urgent care centres will continue to provide such procedures.
Indoor visits and overnight stays will be permitted for friends up to three households at one time with a maximum of eight people, while outdoors five households can meet together – up to 15 people in total.
Perhaps the biggest changes take effect from Wednesday and are subjected to various conditions.
Places of worship can reopen for congregational services, communal prayer and contemplation with physical distancing and limited numbers and singing.
Museums, galleries, monuments, libraries, various other visitor attractions and cinemas as well as hairdressers and barbers can reopen – with enhanced hygiene measures.
All childcare providers will be able to open subject to individual provider arrangements and pubs can reopen indoors alongside all holiday accommodation, while the two-metre rule for public transport and retail will be eased down to one metre.
The restrictions on attending funerals will be eased. Marriage ceremonies and civil partnership registrations with physical distancing will also be permitted with associated receptions subject to restrictions on hospitality and household meetings.
Ms Sturgeon said the “substantial progress” that had been made underpinned the move into phase three as she warned people to avoid public crowded places “literally like the plague” while acknowledging that many were looking forward to their first “non-amateur haircut” in months.
She said: “I can report that in the past 24 hours no deaths have been registered of patients who had been confirmed as having the virus. The total number of deaths in Scotland under that measurement therefore remains at 2490.
The First Minister said: “The statistical trends are clear in Scotland – Covid-19 has now been suppressed to a low level.
“Three weeks ago there were more than 540 people in hospital with confirmed Covid-19. The figure today is 342 and there are now just three patients with confirmed Covid-19 in intensive care.
“The number of people dying has also fallen week-on-week. as shown in our daily statistics and also in the weekly reports from the National Records of Scotland. In addition, our latest modelling suggests that the R-number is still below one – it has been between 0.6 and 0.8 for most of the past month.
“The number of people in Scotland with the virus continues to fall.
“Taking all of these factors into account I can confirm that it is the judgement of the government that we can now move from phase two to phase three of the route map. I can also confirm that we will allow in a limited number of sectors an exception to be made to the requirement for two-metre physical distancing.
“This will be subject to strict conditions tailored to the circumstances of each sector and let me stress the term 'exception' – the general rule remains two metres.
“For public transport and the retail sector, the exception would be permissible from tomorrow. However, it is essential that the required mitigations are in place and appropriate discussions have taken place with trade unions before it becomes operational.
“The retail sector includes personal services such as hairdressing. I also want to remind everyone that face coverings that are already mandatory on public transport will from tomorrow be mandatory in shops as well.
“For the vast majority of us it will be the law that we wear face coverings in shops – wearing a face covering on a bus or a train or in a shop should for the foreseeable future become as automatic as putting on a seatbelt in a car.”
