When will Nicola Sturgeon announce her ‘route map’ out of lockdown today? What time is the First Minister's coronavirus statement on Thursday and where can you watch it?

The First Minister will outline her plan to lift the lockdown later today.

Nicola Sturgeon is expected to outline her plan for lifting the lockdown - nicknamed her “route map” - in a press conference this afternoon.

Here is everything you need to know about it.

How will the route map be structured?

Nicola Sturgeon is expected to outline her plan for lifting the lockdown - nicknamed her “route map” - in a press conference this afternoon. (Photo by Jane Barlow-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

The Scottish government has said that its plan will be “a phased approach” to easing Covid-19 restrictions “while still suppressing the virus.”

The route map will be split into four phases, and give details of how Scotland will begin to move out of the current state of lockdown.

The progress made at each phase of the plan will be assessed every three weeks, to see if the next phase can be entered.

When will the lockdown be lifted?

The first phase of the Scottish government’s plan to ease the lockdown will only begin after the next three-weekly review of the current restrictions, which is scheduled to take place on Thursday, May 28.

What time will the route map be revealed?Nicola Sturgeon is due to make a statement on Thursday 21 May to the Scottish Parliament at 12:30pm. This will be followed by questions from party leaders and backbenchers. The statement and following questions can be watched live on Scottish Parliament TV.

What changes will Nicola Sturgeon announce?

While no details of the route map have been officially confirmed, Nicola Sturgeon has hinted at several restrictions that the Scottish government is aiming to lift.

The restrictions expected to be lifted could allow Scots to:

Do more outdoor activities like sitting in the park Meet outdoors with someone from another household while maintaining social distancing Play some types of outdoor sports like golf and fishing Visit garden centres and use recycling facilities Resume certain types of outdoor work

The current advice remains that people should stay at home. Scots have also been recommended to wear cloth face coverings, like scarves, if they are ever in enclosed spaces where it is hard to socially distance from other people – like shops and public transport.

What has Nicola Sturgeon said about her road map?

Speaking ahead of the publication of her government’s plan, the First Minister said: “The enormous sacrifices made by people and businesses across Scotland have had a real impact on the spread of COVID-19 and I would like to thank everybody who has helped to protect themselves, each other and our health and care services.

“For the time being the advice on staying at home except for essential purposes remains the same, but we hope to shortly be ready to start easing the lockdown restrictions and today’s routemap will outline how we can do that.

“At all stages in this process we have listened to the views of people and organisations in Scotland, and have been guided by the latest scientific advice – and that approach will continue going forward.

“Today’s document is based on the guidance set out by the World Health Organisation and the experience of other countries as they have eased their lockdown – as well as what we have learned about the impact of COVID-19 in Scotland.

“This will be a very gradual process as we monitor how changing behaviour affects the infection rate and we will only be able to move toward easing more restrictions if we continue to work together to suppress the virus.

“Protecting lives will continue to be our number one priority – and I am confident that people across Scotland will continue to pull together in this national endeavour as we return to some kind of normality.”

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