Yesterday Scotland's 'stay at home' rules changed to a 'stay local' in the first sign that we are moving out of lockdown.
And, over the Easter weekend, shops across the country are preparing for a wider reopening of the economy
A number of businesses will welcome back customers for the first time since December last year after a significant drop in the number of coronavirus cases.
Garden centres, hairdressers and click and collect services will be reopening although local travel restrictions will remain in force from April 5.
Restrictions on travel are set to be reviewed by the Scottish Government over the coming days, with hopes to allow Scots to travel freely across the country from April 26.
Confirming the easing of restrictions this week, Nicola Sturgeon urged Scots to consider visiting these shops later in the week to avoid large numbers gathering.
The First Minister said: “Obviously, we don’t want big crowds at any of these stores - so although they can open on the 5th, think about whether you really need to visit them on Monday itself. If you can, wait later in the week.”
She later added: “These changes will I hope be widely welcomed, but they are - quite deliberately - fairly cautious steps out of lockdown.
“If you look across to Europe at the moment, many countries there are seeing a big rise in cases. We don’t want the same thing to happen here if we can avoid it.”
Re-opening businesses include:
- Garden centres (indoor and outdoor)
- Key cutting shops
- Mobility equipment shops
- Baby equipment shops
- Electrical repair shops
- Hairdressers and barbers (with shopfronts - not mobile services), by appointment only
- Homeware shops
- Vehicle showrooms (appointment only) and forecourts
