Lanarkshire is remaining in level two coronavirus restrictions for an extended period following today’s Scottish Parliament update from the First Minister.
North and South Lanarkshire are among 13 council areas which will remain at level two following the latest review, rather than moving down to level one as originally hoped.
Glasgow will move down to level two for the first time from Saturday, with travel into the city from other areas no longer being banned.
Nicola Sturgeon said at Holyrood of the central-belt areas remaining in level two: “I know this will be very disappointing for people in these local authority areas, but this is a pause, not a step backwards.
“It’s not lockdown; hospitality remains open inside and outside, so does retail, and there are no travel restrictions in place.
“We will be providing support to soft play and other sectors which had been expecting to open or operate in a different way from June 7, and full details will be provided by the finance secretary tomorrow.”
She told MSPs: “There are a number of local authorities not currently meeting the criteria for level one in either in case numbers or test positivity.
“If we looked at just the raw numbers it could be argued that some should be in level three, but our judgement based on the impact of vaccination on hospitalisation and our assessment of local factors and public health interventions is that level three would not be proportionate at this stage.
“With case numbers as high as they are in these areas and a substantial number of adults not yet double-dosed, it is safer and more likely to protect our progress overall to hold these areas in level two for a further period.”
Ms Sturgeon described the vaccination rollout as “a significant advantage we did not have in the first or second wave” – but called the new and more transmissible variant of Covid-19 a “considerable downside”, saying that the new strain now accounts for more than half of Scotland’s daily cases.
She said: “At this crucial stage, to avoid being knocked off course completely we must still err on the side of caution.
“The decisions we have arrived at are difficult and complex ones, and this reflects the fact that we’re currently at a difficult and fragile point of what we very much hope is a transition to a different way of dealing with this virus.
“We do believe vaccines are opening the path to a less restrictive way of dealing with Covid, which is less driven by case numbers; but because not all adults have been fully vaccinated with two doses to date, we’re not quite there yet.
“As cases continue to rise for too long a time, we could still see a significant burden of illness and death and significant pressure on our NHS – taking a cautious approach now while more people get fully vaccinated does give us the best chance of staying on the right track overall.”
*Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
And did you know Lanarkshire Live had its own app? Download yours for free here.
