Nicola Sturgeon eases lockdown: Scotland prepares to enter phase one on Friday

The First Minister has confirmed that areas of the lockdown rules are being eased as Scotland enters phase one.

Nicola Sturgeon spoke today at a press conference from St Andrew's house.

Nicola Sturgeon has announced lockdown measures in Scotland will be eased, with phase one of the government's route map coming into effect on Friday.

Ms Sturgeon has confirmed that Scottish people will be allowed to resume outdoor work and construction, garden centres will reopen and drive through food outlets will no longer be discouraged from tomorrow.

Recycling centres will also reopen.

From Monday onwards, teachers will be able to enter schools, and from next Wednesday, childcare will be available to a wider group of people.

Again, from tomorrow, people can meet other households, as long as keeping 2m apart.

When two households meet up, there should not be more than eight people and should try not to meet up with two different households in one day.

People are not yet allowed to enter other houses.

Ms Sturgeon has said that she feels ‘nervous’ bringing these changes in, and asks for people to stick to the new rules.

The First Minister has said that the R number remains in a range of 0.7 to one, and it is not certain how close to one it is, but it has been below one for more than a few weeks.

The governments ‘test and protect’ will also go live today, as people are told that if they have symptoms, they are to fill out a form online to inform public health who they have been in contact with.

Ms Sturgeon has thanked the Scottish people for their efforts during lockdown that has made it possible for certain measures to be eased.

The current Scottish Government statistics as of this morning confirm that there are 15,288 positive cases in Scotland, 1,238 patients are in hospital, 37 patients are in intensive care and tragically, another 13 patients have died from confirmed coronavirus, bringing the total to 2,316.

More to follow