Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to make Covid statement amid calls to ditch rules

People across Scotland are set to hear whether the legal requirement on the wearing of face coverings could soon be ended in the country.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will make a statement to the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday.

And it is believed that the SNP leader could give an indication as to when the measure could be eased.

However, it is expected that people will still be strongly urged to continue to wear masks in relevant settings.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross earlier called on the First Minister to end all Covid restrictions.

He urged Sturgeon to “trust the public” and to give up the control over people’s lives.

It is despite the number of people in hospital with Covid-19 in Scotland reaching another record high.

Today, 9,311 more people have tested positive for #coronavirus

2,383 people were in hospital yesterday with #coronavirus which is 23 more than the day before

Sadly 39 more people who tested positive have died (11,359 in total)

Latest update ➡️ https://t.co/bZPbrC7f5X pic.twitter.com/b2c7Imyq4u
— Scottish Government (@scotgov) March 29, 2022

As of Monday, there were 2383 in hospital with a recently confirmed case of the virus, official figures show.

Speaking ahead of the First Minister’s statement at Holyrood, Ross warned against delaying the lifting of measures in place.

“Nicola Sturgeon must give up control over people’s lives and ditch Covid rules,” he said.

“She can’t use the higher case rates that she has completely failed to reduce as an excuse to delay or backtrack on lifting the remaining restrictions.

“We have now been living under some form of legal Covid restrictions for over two years.

“Nicola Sturgeon must now start to trust the Scottish public to keep themselves safe.”

The Scottish Conservative leader also suggested that the strategy adopted by the SNP in responding to the Covid pandemic has not been successful.

“Despite their overly cautious approach, the SNP’s Covid strategy has failed,” said Ross

“Scotland’s infection rates have been significantly higher than England’s for several weeks.

“All the SNP have achieved with their dithering and delays is to prolong the hardship of the public and businesses.

“Nicola Sturgeon cannot keep Scotland in Covid restrictions forever. It’s time we got back to normality.”