[ad_1]
Restrictions on outdoor gatherings to ease starting Friday, Sturgeon announces
Rules on outdoor gatherings in Scotland will be relaxed from Friday, Nicola Sturgeon announced.
Updating the MSPs in the Scottish Parliament in the latest lockdown review, he said that up to four adults from two households will be able to gather outside at that time.
Currently, coronavirus regulations restrict gatherings to two adults from two households for essential exercise.
The Prime Minister also announced a relaxation in the rules for those aged 12 to 17 who meet outdoors, who can meet in groups of up to four from up to four households starting Friday.
Outdoor gatherings for social and recreational purposes, as well as essential exercise, will be permitted.
Non-contact outdoor sports for adults in groups of up to 15 can be restarted from the same date.
Sturgeon said that while the travel restrictions cannot be lifted for adults, they will be eased somewhat for children who participate in sports where their club may be “a bit outside” of the council area.
He also announced that community worship will be able to restart as of Friday, March 26, and that the previously proposed limit of 20 will be increased to 50, where a physical distance of two meters can be accommodated.
Sturgeon said “strong reasons for hope” are provided by a “significant” drop in new cases in recent weeks, along with declining deaths and hospital admissions.
He said the vaccination program is “progressing beyond our initial expectations” as nearly 40% of the Scottish population received a first dose, but warned of the need to exercise caution to avoid a more infectious variant of the virus, which represents almost 90%. of cases, getting out of control.
The Prime Minister said: “That is why the changes that I have announced today are modest.
But they are also important. I hope they help people’s health and well-being by allowing group exercise and allowing a little more social interaction.
“I also hope that they allow the children to see their friends more and exercise and play a little more normally.
“And they should provide some comfort to religious groups.”
Giving an update on the latest coronavirus figures, Sturgeon said Scotland has recorded 19 coronavirus patients deaths and 466 new cases in the past 24 hours.
This brings the death toll under this measure, of people who tested positive for the virus for the first time in the previous 28 days, to 7,441.
The daily positivity rate for the test is 3 percent, up from 5 percent on Monday.
There are 614 people hospitalized with the confirmed virus, 40 in 24 hours and 50 in intensive care, nine fewer.
A total of 1,789,377 people have received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine as of Tuesday morning, an increase of 14,718 in one day, and 123,686 have received their second dose.
