Covid in Scotland: FM expected to confirm further lockdown easing

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The first minister is expected to confirm the most significant stage in lockdown easing later.

The biggest เกมส์ยิงปลา raft of changes since Scotland went into lockdown on Boxing Day last year is due to take place on Monday 26 April.

The scheduled unlocking will include the reopening of hospitality, gyms and non-essential shops.

Non-essential travel between Scotland, England and Wales could also be allowed for the first time this year.

Hairdressers, click and collect services and homeware shops, as well as the resumption of outdoor contact sports for 12 to 17-year-olds were re-introduced on 5 April.

And Covid restrictions on traveling around Scotland and rules on the number of people allowed to meet up outdoors were relaxed on Friday.
Jillian Evans, head of health intelligence at NHS Grampian, told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland program the overall picture in Scotland was encouraging.

She said the outlook looked positive on the basis of trends and the WHO criteria.

"Add into that the progress of the vaccination program and having the JCVI groups - between 1 and 9 - all vaccinated now and progress towards the second dose then we are in a good position to start cautiously easing as planned," she said.

Asked what lessons need to be learned from the second lockdown, Ms Evans said: "The biggest one is international travel, without a doubt.

"What we saw last summer were people traveling for non-essential reasons and the import of new cases and new variants as a result of it. So I am really hoping that we don't start opening up international travel too soon."

Prof James Chalmers, respiratory health expert at Dundee University, told the program international travel ran the risk that people would "seed outbreaks".

He also sounded a note of caution as Scotland is not yet at the half way point of administering the required nine million vaccine doses.

Prof Chalmers said: "It is very early to be thinking about things like summer holidays when we have so much work to do to get to the summer safely."