The Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, yesterday announced the country’s plans for easing out of the lockdown, which could begin from the last week of April.
The country has been under a strict lockdown since January this year, and the First Minister has announced a plan that involves returning to the tiered, or leveled, system, whereby different council areas in Scotland will come under different levels of restrictions based on virus rates.
The tiered system should be reintroduced by the end of April 2021, with a “progressive easing” of restrictions before then. The priority remains curbing the spread of the virus enough to allow Scottish children to go back to schools, colleges, and universities.
There will be a gradual, phased easing of lockdown, known as the Strategic Framework, with at least 3 weeks in between each phase to allow the Government to gauge whether the latest measures can continue safely.
The phases are as follows:
Phase 1 (From February 22nd)
- Early learning and childcare and schools open for Primary 1-3 pupils and senior phase pupils for essential practical work.
- Limited increase in the provision for vulnerable children.
- Care homes opening to facilitate meaningful contact between relatives/friends and residents.
Phase 2 (No earlier than March 15th)
- Phased return of a small number of priority students to University and colleges for in-person learning.
- Non-contact outdoor group sports for 12-17 year olds, subject to sport-specific guidance.
- Socialising rules eased to allow outdoor meetings of 4 people from 2 households.
Phase 3 (No earlier than early April)
- Stay at Home requirement removed.
- Third and final phase of schools reopening if required.
- Places of worship can open on a restricted numbers basis [20].
- Essential retailers list expanded slightly and click-and-collect resumes for non-essential retail.
Phase 4 (No earlier than late April)
- Limited other easings within Level 4, including permitting non-essential work in people’s homes.
- Return to variable Levels approach, which will enable the graduated opening up of economic and social activity, at a pace that is safe given epidemiological conditions.
- Increasing vaccine coverage over time should enable greater easing of restrictions.
The First Minister was careful not to over promise on a full lifting of all restrictions, adding that even the return to a tiered system will be dependent on the continued following of restrictions by the Scottish public.
Unlike the English roadmap out of lockdown, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson hopes will mean all social restrictions being lifted by June 21st, the First Minister said the Scottish Government were being “deliberately cautious” with their plan, and would not commit to a date by which ‘normal life’ would resume.
The First Minister did concede that the phases and dates were not set in stone, and that if Scotland began to overperform with regards to suppressing the virus, the Scottish Government would seek to “accelerate” the easing of restrictions.
You can read the Scottish Government’s COVID-19 Strategic Framework Update in full here.
