Nicola Sturgon pushes Scotland’s Freedom Day back to July 19 and vows to drop all rules by August 9
Nicola’s neverending lockdown? Sturgeon delays Scotland’s ‘Level 0’ Freedom Day until July 19 with social distancing, masks and WFH until AUTUMN – amid fears Boris will have to follow her lead again
- The First Minister brought her country into line with England’s lockdown
- Scotland was meant to have its own Level 0 Freedom Day on June 28
- But rates of infection, particularly in central belt, led to postponement today
- Sturgeon hopes to remove all legally required Covid-19 restrictions by August 9
- But voluntary social distancing and wearing of masks could be requested after
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Nicola Sturgeon raised the prospect of some Scottish Covid restrictions remaining in place into the autumn today as she postponed ending the country’s lockdown by three weeks.
The First Minister brought her country into line with England by pushing the country’s downgrading to Level Zero back to July 19 because of the spread of the Indian variant.
She pledged to scrap all laws covering Covid restrictions by August 9 – but admitted that Scots might well be asked to voluntarily continue social distancing and wear masks in some situations after that date.
Scotland was meant to have its own relative Freedom Day on June 28, but rates of infection, particularly across the most populous central belt, led to today’s announcement.
Ms Sturgeon told Holyrood that life would feel ‘much, much less restrictive’ after August 9.
She also pledged to ‘encourage support’ for continued home working after workplaces are fully able to reopen.
The setting of these dates is likely to raise pressure on Boris Johnson to set out what measures might remain in place after England’s Freedom Day on July 19.
Ministers are yet to set out what mitigations like social distancing and mask wearing may remain in place, with Michael Gove leading an ongoing review.
Speaking to MSPs in Holyrood today, 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.’
The First Minister brought her country nto line with England by pushing the country’s downgrading to Level Zero back several weeks because of the spread of the Indian variant.
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross
The First Minister said: ‘Assuming we are meeting the revised strategic aim, we hope that all parts of Scotland, not currently in that level, can move to Level 0 on 19 July.
‘That means, for example, that the limits for household gatherings indoors will increase from that date, and up to 200 people will be able to attend weddings and funerals.
‘We also hope – assuming the data supports this – that the general indoor physical distancing requirement can be reduced from 2 metres to 1 metre.
‘And we hope, from that date, to lift the outdoor requirement to physically distance.
‘In addition – in recognition of the reduced risk of outdoor transmission and therefore the desire to encourage people to stay outdoors as much as possible – we hope that limits on informal outdoor social gatherings, in private gardens for example, will also be removed at this stage.’
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.
‘As our Strategic Framework Update paper sets out, basic mitigations will still be required, as we move through summer and into the autumn, when we face the risk of a further resurgence in cases.’
On homeworking she added: She said: ‘While recognising that a return to the workplace will be right for many, we will encourage continued support for home working where it is possible and appropriate.
‘This won’t just assist with control of the virus, it will also help promote well-being more generally.
‘However, I think many would agree that, as a general principle, home-working should be more possible post Covid than it was before.’
