Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Scotland to lift most remaining Covid restrictions

Scotland to lift most remaining Covid restrictions

Scotland's Covid-19 restrictions are to be eased, with nightclubs reopening, large indoor events resuming and social distancing rules dropped.

The changes will take effect from Monday 24 January after a "significant fall" in new case numbers.

However people are still being asked to work from home and to take lateral flow tests before meeting with others.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told MSPs that Scotland had "turned the corner on the Omicron wave".

Guidance advising adults against meeting up with more than three households at a time will also be scrapped, along with curbs on indoor contact sports.

And ministers have decided against extending the vaccine passport scheme to more hospitality settings "at this stage".

Ms Sturgeon said that while Omicron is still infecting "large numbers of people", there had been a significant fall in the number of new infections over the past two weeks.

A total of 20,268 positive cases have been reported over the past three days, compared to 36,526 over the same three days last week.

The percentage of tests coming back positive has dropped from almost 30% in early January to under 20% now.

It is now thought that the Omicron wave peaked in the first week of January, and the number of people being admitted to hospital with the virus is also falling.

Hospitality venues such as pubs and restaurants will no longer need to operate on a table service only basis


Restrictions introduced over the festive period are being phased out, with limits on crowds at outdoor events such as football matches having been lifted on Monday of this week.

From next Monday, the limits on attendance at indoor public events, the requirement for 1m physical distancing and table service in hospitality venues, and the requirement for nightclubs to close will also be removed.

However longer-running measures such as the use of face coverings on public transport and indoor public places will continue, while Ms Sturgeon said people were advised to continue to keep gatherings "small" to reduce the risk of infection.

People should also continue to work from home wherever possible for now, but Ms Sturgeon said talks would be held with businesses about "a return to a more hybrid approach from the start of February".

The first minister said that Scotland was "once again entering a calmer phase of the pandemic", but warned there was still "significant pressure" on health services.

She said: "Although we can be increasingly optimistic at this stage, we must all still play our part in helping further slow the spread of the virus."


Whisper it but this really should be the beginning of the end of lockdown-style Covid restrictions in Scotland.

As the current Omicron measures are eased, the Scottish government certainly has no intention of bringing any of them back.

In fact, they are working on a new strategy for living with Covid without major restrictions in future.

That does not mean pretending coronavirus has gone away or abandoning all attempts to limit its spread.

For instance, the first minister has already said that some continued mask wearing in public is likely.

But the hope is that the continued use of vaccination and the exercise of personal responsibility can take more of the strain in future.

Opposition parties are anxious for more details of this revised approach which, of course, depends on Covid not mutating into a more dangerous strain.

The changes were broadly welcomed by business groups, with CBI Scotland saying the easing of rules for hospitality was "a huge relief to firms desperate to start trading their way to recovery after a difficult festive period".

The Scottish Chambers of Commerce echoed this, and welcomed the decision not to extend vaccine passports to more venues - while calling on ministers to "remove the shackles from offices as urgently as possible".

And the Federation of Small Businesses said withdrawing restrictions "doesn't mean that local economies will necessarily bounce back", calling for the government to "work hard to build business and consumer confidence".

'Trust the public'


The Scottish Conservatives also welcomed the easing of Covid measures, with health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane saying there had been a "sea change" in government policy "towards trusting the Scottish public".

However the party called for the vaccine passport scheme to be scrapped altogether, and for a "credible plan" to tackle waiting times in the NHS.

Ms Sturgeon said the decision on vaccine passports was "finely balanced", but that if case numbers were to rise again then extending the scheme to all licensed hospitality venues "may well be a more proportionate alternative to other, more restrictive measures".

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said the changes would "offer hope to a lot of people who can once again look forward to getting some more normality back in their lives".

However he said businesses were "teetering on the brink", and called on the government to go further in getting promised financial support to firms.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
Intel Reports Revenue Beats but Sees 81% Rise in Losses
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
×