Scotland’s national clinical director has fuelled speculation the two metre rule will be dumped by saying physical distancing measures will change.
However, Professor Jason Leitch said he could not be “entirely sure” when the restriction would be relaxed.
The two metre rule has been an essential part of the public health response to the coronavirus pandemic, but a growing number of stakeholders are calling for a rethink.
Businesses believe they will never be able to reopen while the curb remains in place, and the measure is also deemed to make full-time schooling impossible.
South of the border, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce two metres will be replaced by one metre.
The move, which is aimed at getting the economy moving again, will pile pressure on the First Minister to do likewise.
The Scottish Government is reviewing the two metre limit and Nicola Sturgeon has said:
“We will of course, as we always do, pay attention to developments elsewhere, whether that is other parts of the UK - particularly other parts of the UK given the geography - and indeed other parts of the words.
“We have to go through a process of making assessments, listening to evidence and applying judgements in our own way.”
Speaking to the BBC, Leitch, who has been of Sturgeon’s top advisers during the pandemic, said progress made in fighting the disease meant different decisions could be made:
“That means, in the round, the package of measures can change. That’s why we can do things like add a bubble if you are a single person, we can ask the shielded group to say ‘you can now meet people outside’.
“I think you will see, over the next week and weeks, gradual opening up of that.”
He added: “I don’t think we are going to be physically distanced forever. We are going to learn to live with this infectious disease, like we live with tuberculosis and flu. I think physical distancing will change. I am just not entirely sure when.”
Leitch’s comments come after Benny Higgins, who chaired the Government’s Economic Recovery group, predicted Sturgeon would ditch two metres:
“The real answer here is to get this ‘r’ number down low enough that you can actually get out of any social distancing.
“On the way to that, getting from two to one is probably important. I suspect that, without any inner circle knowledge, that Boris will do it pretty soon and we will do it soon-ish, but not quite at the same time. It is important.”
