Covid crowd restrictions lifted as Celtic Park set to host 60,000

Around 60,000 football fans are expected to attend the Celtic vs Hibs Premiership match in Glasgow as restrictions on crowd numbers in Scotland are lifted.

The match at Celtic Park will be the first major event to take place after rules limiting outdoor events to 500 people came to an end on Monday morning.

The restrictions were brought in to help stem the rise of the Covid-19 Omicron variant towards the end of last year.

Premiership clubs agreed to bring forward the winter break that was originally planned to begin on January 2 to December 26 in the hope restrictions would be lifted for the top flight’s return.

They were proved right in doing so last week when First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced that fans would be able to return to games from January 17.

New guidance stipulates that organisers of large events of 1000 or more people should check the vaccine passport status of at least half of attendees, rather than the previous 20%.

Furthermore, from Monday the definition of “fully vaccinated” will include having a booster if a second dose of coronavirus vaccine was received more than four months ago.

The First Minister said the moves comes amid encouraging signs that the Omicron wave “may be at or close to the peak”.

When announcing the lifting of restrictions last week she said: “Our tentative view [is] that although significant uncertainties remain in both the data and the immediate period ahead, there are nevertheless some grounds for cautious optimism that a combination of the protective measures introduced before Christmas, responsible action on the part of the general public, and the rapid delivery of booster vaccines has had a positive impact.”