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Sturgeon lifts Covid restrictions on outdoor events


Nicola Sturgeon has said that restrictions on large outdoor events in Scotland will be lifted from Monday.

The move allows football fans to return to stadiums when the Scottish Premiership’s winter break ends next week, and avoids Scotland’s Six Nations rugby matches having to be played behind closed doors.

The First Minister addressed parliament this afternoon, explaining that a combination of the protective measures introduced before Christmas, responsible action on the part of the general public, and the rapid delivery of booster vaccines have had a positive impact.

“As a result, I will indicate that from next week we will begin to lift the measures introduced before Christmas – but that we will do so in a phased and careful way, starting with the removal of attendance limits on live outdoor events from Monday.”

Sturgeon continued: “The measures I am specifically referring to here are limits on attendances at live public events, the requirement for distancing between groups in public indoor places, and the requirement for table service in hospitality venues serving alcohol on the premises.

“I can confirm today that the attendance limit of 500 at large-scale outdoor events will be lifted from 17 January.”

Sturgeon explained that the Covid certification scheme will remain in place for those and other events and venues previously covered, but with two changes:

  • Firstly, Scottish Government guidance will now stipulate that the organisers of large events of 1,000 or more people should check the certification status of at least 50% of attendees, rather than the current 20%, or at least 1,000 people – whichever figure is higher.
  • Secondly, from Monday the requirement to be ‘fully vaccinated’ for the purposes of Covid certification will include having a booster if the second dose was more than four months ago.

Sturgeon added that as protective measures are lifted, “it will be necessary to consider again if extending the scope of Covid certification to other venues might be a necessary protection”, adding that “it is something we feel bound to give appropriate consideration to”.


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A limit of 500 people at outdoor events has been in place since Boxing Day.

Premiership football teams started their winter break early after the limit was imposed, with matches due to return next Monday when Celtic host Hibernian at Celtic Park.

Large Hogmanay events were also cancelled.

The restrictions on outdoor events were among a series of measures imposed by the Scottish Government in an attempt to slow the spread of the Omicron variant.

Limits of 100 people were placed on indoor standing events or 200 if they were seated, while nightclubs had to close and pubs and restaurants had to bring back table service for alcohol and a one-metre distance between different groups of people.

People were also urged not to meet in groups of more than three households.

But the latest official coronavirus reporting showed that average daily cases in Scotland – 2,824 per one million population in the week to 6 January – were higher than in England (2,615 per one million) – which has fewer restrictions.


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The latest statistics show that 10,392 positive cases were reported yesterday as a result of PCR tests – that is 27.7% of all tests carried out.

A further 1,479 people are in hospital with Covid – 47 more than yesterday – while 65 people are in intensive care – 11 of whom have been in intensive care for more than 28 days.

Another 16 deaths have been reported, taking the total number of deaths under the daily definition to 9,950.

While central projections last month were that new infections could reach 50,000 a day by early January, this has not so far materialised.

“Instead we estimate that the total number of new infections a day in early January – not just those recorded through positive PCR tests – may have been around 30,000,” Sturgeon said.

“In other words, it is very likely that the situation we face now, though serious, would have been even more challenging without the renewed sacrifices made by people across the country over these last few weeks.”

She added that while the number of people in hospital with Covid has continued to increase over the past week – putting significant additional pressure on the NHS – there are signs that the rate of increase may be starting to slow down.

“So in summary, 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.”

The First Minister also confirmed an additional £5m of capital funding to local authorities and funded early learning and childcare providers to help with ventilation system installation, in addition to the money previously provided for CO2 monitors.

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