Scotland on 'encouraging trajectory' as restrictions set to ease

The national clinical director has said Scotland is on an “encouraging trajectory” as coronavirus restrictions are set to be eased on Monday.

However Professor Jason Leitch told STV News there are no guarantees that restrictions won’t be reintroduced due to “bumps in the road”.

Coronavirus restrictions on hospitality, large scale events and household mixing were introduced at Christmas in a bid to tackle the spread of the Omicron variant.

These will be lifted on Monday, with pubs, nightclubs and theatres allowed to operate at full capacity again, with curbs on table service and one metre distancing between groups scrapped.

Advice to limit indoor gatherings to three households is also being removed.

However people are still being urged to work from home where possible and other mitigations, such as face coverings in indoor settings and public transport, remain in place for now.

It comes as Scotland recorded a further four coronavirus deaths and 6329 new cases on Sunday.

In an interview on Sunday, the First Minister said she hopes Scotland is now on a “downward slope of that Omicron wave”.

“I think the next few weeks will continue on this encouraging trajectory,” Professor Leitch told STV News.

“What you can’t guarantee as a public health adviser and the business owners know this unfortunately, I would love to be able to guarantee what happens next. But I can’t.

“The virus will decide what happens next, and we’ll have to respond appropriately to that.

“That might be a continued path to easing of protections, but it might, of course, need a reverse gear.

“It might be bumps on the road, I really hope not. I hope that what’s open now can stay open and in exactly the way these businesses and economic environments need to get back to what their version of normal is.”