Home   News   Article

Scottish Government making preparations to start lifting lockdown when possible





Nicola Sturgeon said none of the changes she outlined were being implemented at this stage.
Nicola Sturgeon said none of the changes she outlined were being implemented at this stage.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has sketched out the first stages of what easing the lockdown measures would look like at her daily briefing where she revealed that 26,000 are estimated to carry Covid-19 – twice the number of confirmed cases.

She was very clear that when the lockdown is reviewed UK-wide on Thursday there will be no relaxation of it as yet, but confirmed that preparations are being made for that by the Scottish Government.

Ms Sturgeon explained that progress made so far was “real” but “fragile” and if the lockdown was lifted at all then there would again be an exponential increase in the transmission of the infection.

Despite being unwilling to give a timeframe to lift the lockdown, the Scottish Government is looking at a variety of scenarios that would see a partial return to normality while still preventing the spread of the virus.

These include:

  • To allow exercise outdoors more than once a day
  • Allowing small, defined and limited groups of people from different households to meet in “bubbles”
  • Looking at the “fairness” of allowing some people out but not those currently shielding
  • When to resume some NHS and community care services such as screening programmes and non-urgent elective procedures
  • How to carefully and safely allow businesses in the construction, retail and manufacturing sectors and also to some outdoor and rural businesses to reopen
  • How to allow children to gradually return to school in different groups, part-time or in blocks of a few days or a week at a time

Ms Sturgeon said: “I want to briefly set out the options that we are working on and again I must stress that none of these changes we are implementing as of right now.

"To allow exercise outdoors to happen more than once a day so long as we continue to stay apart from people outside our own households.

"Second, we're also considering a slight relaxation in the rules to allow meeting up with a small defined group of people from other households in a sort of bubble might be possible – even if initially that was only possible out of doors.

"And also how the limitations of it could be enforced if necessary – it is also something that is not possible for those who are currently shielding so we have to think also about the fairness of it.

"The third area we are looking at is when and in what order we can resume some NHS and community care services. We stopped some services for example screening programmes and non-urgent elective procedures, to ensure that the NHS cope with the virus.

"But these postponements also have implications for health so we must consider how these services can be restarted as soon as possible and that is what we are currently doing.

"The fourth area is how we very carefully and safely allow businesses to reopen. That is a major area of work for obvious reasons. We need to work with business and with trade unions to consider the practical arrangements for different work environments to start up safely.

"That includes changes to working practices physical layouts of workplaces, the appropriate use of PPE and the operation of public transport. On this we're looking carefully at the work the UK Government is doing and consulting our own stakeholders.

"Initially we are giving particular consideration to businesses in construction, retail and manufacturing sectors and also to some outdoor and rural businesses. However, where home working is possible, we are very likely to insist on that for the foreseeable future.

"The Deputy First Minister is chairing the education recovery group which is considering options for how people make gradually return to school.

"A return to school might not be possible at all this side of the summer holidays but we are considering whether some groups of students such as vulnerable children, children who are making the transition from primary to secondary school or who are studying for national qualifications could return to school ahead of others.

"And any initial return to school when it does happen, is of course, likely to require a mixture of time in school and learning at home. For example it is possible that different groups could attend school part-time in blocks of a few days or a week at a time to enable physical distancing and deep cleaning of schools between sessions."


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.


This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More