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 issued a warning in her closing comments of the statement saying
“Life has returned to normal for most of us. But Covid has not gone away - indeed, there will be very few of us in recent weeks who have been untouched by this virus, either ourselves or within our families. That in itself is a sign of how infectious it is. “
NHS Ayrshire and Arran has urged people to “stop and think” before visiting under-pressure Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments.
Ms Sturgeon told MSPs that the Scottish Cabinet has agreed the “legal requirement to wear face coverings should be replaced with guidance” on a “phased basis”.
From Monday 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, a funeral service or commemorative event.
The wider legal requirement for wearing face masks – which applies to shops, public transport and some other indoor settings – will then be converted to guidance two weeks later on April 18.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie pushed the First Minister on testing, which is due to come to an end for most people from the end of next month.
Ms Baillie asked about the future of testing for people who are on the shielding list and for testing in schools.
Ms Sturgeon replied: “After the population-wide testing programme ceases in its current form, testing will be used to ensure those who would benefit from antiviral treatment – and that is still being offered on a fairly restricted basis but will expand as more antiviral treatments become available – get speedy access to that treatment.”
The threat level from the pandemic is currently at “medium”, but Ms Sturgeon told MSPs she is “optimistic that it will move to being a low threat during the course of the spring”.
Recent high levels of infection have “put the NHS under even more severe strain”, she conceded.
Speaking about the latest statistics, she added: “The number of people in hospital with Covid reported today – 2,344 – is 39 lower than yesterday.
“But yesterday’s figure was the highest it has been since the start of the pandemic. So today’s number is still exceptionally high, and significantly above the previous peak of hospital cases, which was 2053 in January 2021.”
On schools, the First Minister said guidance will continue to be developed but she stressed the importance of bringing down case numbers in schools and wider society to limit staff and pupil absences.
Well that’s about all we have time for.
Covid laws which require Scots to wear face masks on public transport and some other indoor public settings are to be removed on a “phased basis” from Monday.
The Scottish First Minister confirmed the use of masks will become guidance, rather than a legal requirement.