The lockdown “stay at home” rule is to be lifted on April 2, hairdressers and garden centres are set to reopen on April 5 – and a “significant” easing of lockdown including the reopening of all shops plus some outdoor hospitality is planned from April 26.
Lanarkshire, along with the rest of mainland Scotland, is then expected to move back down into level three coronavirus restrictions on that same date at the end of next month for the first time since Boxing Day.
April 26 is also expected to see the resumption of individual exercise in indoor gyms, driving lessons, work in people’s homes, the reopening of libraries and museums and allowing up to 50 people to attend funerals and weddings.
It is then hoped to resume indoor hospitality on May 17, along with the reopening of bingo halls, cinemas, and amusement arcades – and “if not possible before then”, potentially allowing indoor meetings of up to four people from two households.
The latter would represent the first time Lanarkshire residents have been allowed inside other people’s homes since September 2020, when localised restrictions were first put in place in response to rising infections as the second wave of coronavirus took hold.
Planned dates for easing lockdown were announced by Nicola Sturgeon at the Scottish Parliament this afternoon, with the First Minister speaking of "brighter days ahead".
The phased opening of non-essential retail including homeware stores, car showrooms and garden centres is planned for Easter Monday, April 5, along with the reopening of hairdressers and barbers for the first time this year.
Contact sports for teenagers and the return of more students to on-campus college learning will also be allowed from the same date.
Ms Sturgeon said: “That’s the maximum we consider possible to do safely at that stage, but by the middle of April – vaccine supplies permitting – we will have offered first doses to everyone over 50, adults with underlying health conditions and unpaid carers.
“That’s a significant majority of the adult population and covers groups that account for 99 per cent of all Covid-related deaths, and that will give us confidence.”
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Cafes, restaurants and bars can open outdoor areas until 10pm from April 26 – allowing Monklands’ venues to welcome customers for the first time this year, while many pubs have been continuously closed since October.
The current rules preventing North Lanarkshire residents travelling outside the local authority area are expected to end on the same date, with travel across Scotland’s mainland set to be allowed at that time when all areas currently in the toughest level-four restrictions move down.
Ms Sturgeon also noted that it is hoped that travel to other parts of the UK might also be allowed at that time, with further updates to be issued throughout next month; but that non-essential international travel will not be possible before May 17 and potentially still “not for a period after that”.
Outdoor socialising rules are set to allow six people from three households to meet outdoors from April 26, and the First Minister said: “Given that the risk of transmission is greatest inside our own homes, we cannot yet say if it will be possible to have people from other households visit from this date, but we do intend to keep this under ongoing review.
“All of us yearn to meet with friends and loved ones indoors again, especially people who live alone, and we will seek to restore as much normality as possible as soon as it’s safe to do so.”
Ms Sturgeon said the hope is that the majority of areas will be able to move to level two restrictions on May 17, followed by level one in early June and that at the end of June, “all of Scotland can to move at least level zero”.
She added: “The steps give a significant degree of clarity between now and the middle of May, but the unpredictable nature of the virus makes it difficult beyond that point; we’ll be assessing on an ongoing basis with a view to restoring as much normality as possible.
“I know I’m not the only one looking forward with a real sense of hope to hugging my family this summer.
“This is the most optimistic I’ve felt about the situation for a long time, but the route back to normality depends on suppression – we’re getting the virus under control but it’s dangerous and even more infectious.”
Ms Sturgeon announced that there were seven coronavirus deaths in Scotland yesterday. There were 597 positive Covid tests, while more than 1.9 million people have so far had their first vaccination dose, accounting for more than 40 per cent of the adult population.
