Is Nicola Sturgeon set to make children's parties exempt from 'two households' rule?

Nicola Sturgeon could be set to make children's parties exempt from the current 'two households' covid restrictions.

Under the current 'Rule of Six' only two households are allowed to meet socially, either at home, in a restaurant, garden or park.

While the Rule of Six is nationwide, in Scotland children are not included in that limited number - although they must only play with children from one other household.

The First Minister promised to clarify by the end of this week. (Getty Images/Tetra images RF)

However during Tuesday's briefing the First Minister revealed she had asked her advisors to look at possibly making further exceptions for under 12s to allow certain things such as birthday parties to take place - as long as the number of adults was limited to six from two households, reports the BBC.

Nicola Sturgeon announced a significant rise in the number of new infections on Wednesday and Tuesday (Daily Record)

Under the current restrictions children can mingle at school with children from dozens of households - but cannot play with the same number of children outside of the school gates.

The rules get further complicated when it comes to kids clubs and activities.

While numerous children can take part in football games and dance lessons, they are not permitted to socialise with the same group of children outside of these activities.

Some Scots parents have criticised the measures as 'confusing' and 'madness'.

However Parent Club Scotland - which is run by the Scottish Government - was quick to point out that the restrictions are not about consistency - but a trade-off to keep schools open.

Posting on its Facebook it says: "A lot of people have been asking why kids can mix together at school while outside of school they can now only meet with one other household at a time. And there’s no easy answer to this.

"The problem is, everything we do that involves contact with other people is potentially risky, and could result in the virus being spread further."

It comes as 290 people tested positive for Covid yesterday - the highest figure since May 1 - with the majority in the west of Scotland.

The “R number” - which shows how fast Covid is spreading - is now estimated to be as high as 1.4. It needs to be well below 1 to slow the spread.