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Daily Record
Daily Record
Politics
Peter Davidson

Nicola Sturgeon to make covid announcement on Scotland's 'Freedom Day'

Nicola Sturgeon is set to issue an update on the coronavirus situation in the Scottish Parliament later today.

The First Minister said last Tuesday that she is "likely" to announce a three-week delay in easing lockdown across the country due to the Delta variant.

The strain, which originated in India, has spread over the last month and led to Glasgow and other local authorities being held in higher lockdown levels in a bid to halt the number of cases.

Testing and the vaccination programme has been ramped in a bid to stop the spread of the virus which has killed more than 7,600 Scots since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

At present the Western Isles, Shetland, Orkney and some of the smaller islands are in Level 0.

The rest of the country is in either Level 1 or Level 2.

Sturgeon will give an update on whether 'Freedom Day' can go ahead on July 19 like in England in the parliament at around 2.20pm.

Speaking in the Scottish Parliament last week Sturgeon said: "I will confirm our decision to parliament next week following that review.

"However, given the current situation and the need to get more people fully vaccinated before we ease up further, it is reasonable - I think - to indicate now that it is unlikely that any part of the country will move down a level from 28 June.

"Instead, it is more likely that we will opt to maintain restrictions for a further three weeks from 28 June and use that time to vaccinate, with both doses, as many more people as possible.

"Doing that will give us the best chance later in July of getting back on track and restoring the much greater normality that we all crave."

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