Rules on meeting up outdoors to ease from Friday

Up to four adults from two households will be allowed to meet up outdoors from Friday, the First Minister has confirmed.

Speaking in the Scottish Parliament, Nicola Sturgeon outlined slight changes to restrictions as the number of new coronavirus cases continues to decline in Scotland.

It means at the end of the week, people will be allowed to meet up outdoors in these small groups for "social and recreational purposes", as well as for essential reasons such as exercise.

Meeting will be possible in any outdoor space, including private gardens, but Sturgeon urged: "Please, do stick to the new rules.

"Gatherings must be a maximum of four people from two households and you should only go indoors if that is essential in order to reach a back garden, or to use a toilet."

People have also been advised to stay as close as home to possible. The First Minister said the Scottish Government hopes to relax travel restrictions in the weeks ahead but added it is not safe to do so yet.

For 12 to 17 year olds, outdoor meetings will be limited to a maximum of four people but the two household limit won’t apply.

From Friday, outdoor non-contact sports and organised group exercise will be allowed for all adults in groups of up to 15 people.

Communal worship will be allowed to restart from 26 March, providing that there is no deterioration in the situation with the virus between now and then. The move is in time for Passover, Easter, Ramadan and Vaisakhi.

The limit on attendance at communal services will be increased from 20 to 50, as long as a place of worship is spacious enough to accommodate that number of people with two-metre distancing.

Sturgeon said: "All of us, I think, can see that things are getting better. In recent weeks, we have seen a significant fall in new cases. Deaths and hospital admissions are thankfully now falling. The vaccination programme is progressing beyond our initial expectations.

"All of this is excellent news, and provides really strong grounds for hope, but that hope must also be balanced by caution.

"Because we have been in lockdown, it is easy to overlook the fact that the virus we are dealing with now is much more infectious than the one we were dealing with in the autumn.

"But we will be reminded of that very quickly if we try to do too much too soon. And since we are prioritising the reopening of schools, our scope for lifting other restrictions – certainly in the next few weeks – is extremely limited.

"That is why the changes I have announced today are modest, but they are also important. They will, I hope, help people’s health and wellbeing, by enabling group exercise, and allowing for a bit more social interaction.

"They will also, I hope, let children see more of their friends, and exercise and play a bit more normally and they should, I hope, provide some comfort for faith groups.

"I expect that further, more substantial, changes will be possible in the weeks ahead. I will set out as much detail as I can about that in next week’s statement."