Covid: Crowd restrictions lifted for outdoor events in Scotland

Coronavirus restrictions on the number of spectators allowed at outdoor events in Scotland have been lifted, meaning football and rugby matches can go ahead with fans in the stands.

In response to the Omicron wave, rules were put in place from Boxing Day to limit the number of people who can attend outdoor events to a maximum of 500.

On Tuesday last week, Nicola Sturgeon announced these rules would be eased amid early signs the country had “turned a corner”.

As well as football matches, Murrayfield will be able to hold a full house in the Six Nations rugby.

Scots will still be required to show evidence of vaccination or a recent negative lateral flow test in order to access large events.

Organisers of events with more than 1,000 attendees will be expected to check the Covid status of at least half of those arriving.

Another change coming in on Monday affects the definition of being “fully vaccinated”.

For those whose second dose was more than four months ago, they will now require a booster or third dose.

Giving an update to MSPs last week, the First Minister said: “The situation in Scotland just now is undoubtedly serious but perhaps less so than it might have been, and there are also some signs that we may be starting to turn a corner.”

An IT problem meant the Scottish Government was not able to provide its usual coronavirus data on Sunday.

Figures for positive cases, deaths and vaccinations were affected by the issue but were available for people in hospital with coronavirus.