Watch: Sturgeon lifts coronavirus limit on crowds for outdoor events

The 500-person cap on outdoor events in Scotland will be lifted from Monday, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

The First Minister told MSPs that the restriction, put in place in December, will be removed but the vaccine passport scheme will be strengthened.

“I can confirm today that the attendance limit of 500 at large-scale outdoor events will be lifted from Monday January 17,” she said.

“That means, for example, that spectators will be permitted again at major outdoor sporting events, including football fixtures scheduled for early next week, and the forthcoming Six Nations rugby matches.”

Event organisers will now be asked to review 50% or 1,000 vaccine passports of attendees, whichever figure is higher.

The definition of fully vaccinated as pertains to the certification scheme will also be updated from Monday to mean those who are eligible for a third dose and have received it.

Sturgeon made the announcement at Holyrood on Tuesday afternoon amid signs the spread of the Omicron variant is “starting to slow” across the country.

On Monday, the FM had suggested the government is planning for a long-term shift away from the kind of restrictions Scots have faced since the start of the pandemic.

She said the country had to ask itself “what adaptations to pre-pandemic life” might be needed so the country could live with coronavirus, and hinted face masks may be used long into the future as part of this.

Sturgeon told STV’s Scotland Tonight: “Sometimes when you hear people talk about learning to live with Covid, what seems to be suggested is that one morning we’ll wake up and not have to worry about it anymore, and not have to do anything to try to contain and control it.”