Douglas Ross says Scots will have to "learn to live" with coronavirus in the future as he calls for a return to normality.
The Scottish Conservative leader is calling on Nicola Sturgeon 's government to lift restrictions despite the high number of cases across the country.
Scotland is currently seeing a high rate of positive cases which has been linked to the Delta variant.
The Scottish Government announced yesterday that 2,372 people had tested positive for the deadly virus which has claimed the lives of more than 7,700 Scots since March 2020.
It has also been revealed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that Scotland had six of Europe's top 10 covid hot spots last week.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that England would lift all remaining covid rules from July 19.
England's so-called 'Freedom Day' would come on the same day that all local authority areas in Scotland are expected to move to Level 0.
Several restrictions would still be in place in Scotland from July 19, however Ross wants to see them lifted ahead of 'Freedom Day' on August 9.
Speaking on the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme, Ross said: "Every death is a tragedy and we have already seen far too many days here in Scotland, across UK and around the world from this virus, but we do have to learn to live with it.
"People die from a number of ailments all the time and we have to learn to live with COVID-19.
"It is going to be with us going forward, and I think it is time to start to get our lives back to normal as much as possible.
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"That's what we've told businesses and individuals and families here in Scotland, that's why we're working towards that 19th of July date to move to Level 0, and obviously the 9th of August date to see the bulk of the restrictions removed here in Scotland.
"We do need to get life back to normal."
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