Nicola Sturgeon to set out options for easing Scotland's lockdown restrictions

The First Minister hopes to reveal more about our path out of lockdown in the next few days

Author: Paul KellyPublished 27th Apr 2020
Last updated 27th Apr 2020

The First Minister hopes to outline possible options for easing Scotland's coronavirus lockdown restrictions in the coming days.

Nicola Sturgeon said she will soon “say more about the different options under consideration” by ministers.

She made the pledge as she said there are “real signs of progress” in tackling the spread of Covid-19 in Scotland.

Ms Sturgeon said: “In the coming days, I will say more about the different options under consideration and how we're going about assessing those.”

The First Minister said the latest figures show a total of 1,262 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus, up 13 from 1,249 on Sunday.

A total of 10,521 people have now tested positive for the disease, a rise of 197 from the previous day's total.

There are 134 people in intensive care with coronavirus or coronavirus symptoms, an increase of one on Sunday, while 1,762 people are in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19.

She said 2,380 people who have tested positive for coronavirus have now left hospital after treatment and the overall trend in statistics gives “cause for cautious optimism”.

Speaking at her daily briefing from the Scottish Government's HQ in Edinburgh, Ms Sturgeon said the number of people requiring intensive care treatment has dropped by “around a third” in the last two weeks, while the number of hospital patients is now broadly stable.

She stressed it is too soon to lift the lockdown that has been in place for over a month, saying: “This progress remains very fragile and now is a time for all of us to exercise careful caution. It's certainly not the time to throw caution to the wind.”

Hear all the latest news from across Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and Falkirk on Forth 1. Listen on FM, via the Rayo app, on DAB or on your smart speaker.