Nicola Sturgeon Covid update RECAP: Requirement to wear face masks to be removed on a “phased basis”
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Face covering rules are currently the only legal restrictions still in place on in Scotland in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ms Sturgeon had previously signalled their use would move from being a legal requirement to being guidance on Monday March 21.
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Hide AdHowever, she told MSPs on March 15 that with the “current spike” in cases, ministers had agreed it was “prudent” for the measure to remain in place.
New reported cases have fallen since the last announcement, from 10,710 in March 16 to 9,311 on Monday, but the number of people in hospital has risen sharply.
On March 15, 1,996 people in Scotland’s hospitals had a confirmed case of Covid-19, compared to 2,383 on Tuesday, according to Scottish Government figures.
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Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has called on the First Minister to “give up control over people’s lives”.
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Hide Ad“She can’t use the higher case rates that she has completely failed to reduce as an excuse to delay or backtrack on lifting the remaining restrictions,” he said.
“We have now been living under some form of legal Covid restrictions for over two years. Nicola Sturgeon must now start to trust the Scottish public to keep themselves safe.
“Despite their overly cautious approach, the SNP’s Covid strategy has failed. Scotland’s infection rates have been significantly higher than England’s for several weeks.
“All the SNP have achieved with their dithering and delays is to prolong the hardship of the public and businesses.
“Nicola Sturgeon cannot keep Scotland in Covid restrictions forever. It’s time we got back to normality.”
Nicola Sturgeon Covid update LIVE: Updates on face mask rules Scotland
Nicola Sturgeon will announce the Scottish Government’s decision on scrapping face coverings in shops and on public transport on Wednesday.
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Maintaining a legal requirement on Scots to wear face masks while on public transport and shopping is now “too big a force”, an infections expert has claimed.
Dr Christine Tait-Burkard said cases of the BA2 Omicron subvariant had peaked about two weeks ago.
And while the number of Scots in hospital with the virus has reached record highs in recent days, she said these figures “look like they are starting to drop”.
Dr Christine Tait-Burkard said cases of the BA2 Omicron subvariant had peaked about two weeks ago.
The Edinburgh University expert told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “I think recommendations for people to wear masks in high risk environments is the right course of action, it doesn’t need that legal enforcement any more.”
Her comments came ahead of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announcing whether the requirement for face coverings can be removed from April 4.
She added she was “tentatively optimistic” about the situation in Scotland.
She stated: “We reached the peak of Covid infection around March 15 – the week we had one in 11 people testing positive for Covid.
“And also the hospital admission numbers look like they are starting to drop.
“We have seen over the past six days we have had one of the highest numbers of people in hospital with Covid, around 2,300, but that number has stayed relatively stable which is a good sign that we are on the cusp of going down the other side of the hill.”
Have cases risen or fallen since the last briefing?
New reported cases have fallen since the last announcement, from 10,710 in March 16 to 9,311 on Monday, but the number of people in hospital has risen sharply.
On March 15, 1,996 people in Scotland’s hospitals had a confirmed case of Covid-19, compared to 2,383 on Tuesday, according to Scottish Government figures.
BREAKING: The legal requirement to wear face coverings in some settings in Scotland will be removed on a “phased basis” from April.
Nicola Sturgeon said: “From next Monday 4 April, it will no longer be a legal requirement to wear a face covering in places of worship or while attending a marriage ceremony, a civil partnership registration, or a funeral service or commemorative event.
And then the wider legal requirement - applying to shops, certain other indoor settings and public transport - will be converted to guidance two weeks later on 18 April.”
The latest stats
Scotland has reported a further 9,610 new cases of Covid-19, as well as 34 new deaths.
Scottish Government figures also showed that 2,344 people were in hospital in Scotland on Tuesday, down from 2,383 the previous day.
The hospital total includes 20 people who were in intensive care on Tuesday with recently confirmed Covid-19.
The latest deaths take the total number of people who had died within 28 days of contracting coronavirus in Scotland to 11,393.
Meanwhile, 4,353,991 people have received their first dose of Covid vaccine, 4,092,791 have received two doses, and a total of 3,451,131 have had three doses.
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The legal requirement to wear face coverings in some settings in Scotland will be removed on a “phased basis” from April 4, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said.
Changes would begin on April 4 for places of worship and weddings, with the wider legal requirements for areas like shops and public transport converted to guidance on April 18.