Scotland's covid guidance has been eased further with the Scottish Government's work from home advice being updated.
Nicola Sturgeon's latest coronavirus update in the Scottish Parliament last Tuesday paved the way for a phased return to the office from today (Monday).
The new advice recommends that employers should consider implementing hybrid working - with workers splitting time between the office and at home.
Before today, the guidance - which was strengthened in response to the omicron covid variant threat - recommended home working 'whenever practical'.
During her address last week, the First Minister said the Scottish Government does not expect to see a "wholesale return to the office next week", saying that given that infection levels remain high, "a mass return at this stage is likely to set progress back".
However, she went on to add the Government knows there are "many benefits to both employees and employers, and to the economy as a whole, in at least a partial return to the office at this stage".
As part of a phased return to the office, employers will be encouraged to consider hybrid working, with Nicola Sturgeon saying that the Government will look to them to determine how best to manage the transition "in consultation with workers and trade unions".
The latest coronavirus statistics, published on Sunday, advise the country recorded two new deaths linked to covid-19 and 6,185 new cases in the previous 24 hours.
It takes the death toll of people who tested positive for the virus in the previous 28 days to 10,311, although weekend figures tend to be lower as registration centres are usually closed.
The number of new cases is 494 lower than the figure recorded on Saturday and 144 fewer than last Sunday.
However, Sunday's statistics, published by Public Health Scotland, include two days of statistics from the NHS Borders health board as it failed to submit data on Saturday.
There were 1,291 people in hospital on Saturday evening with recently confirmed covid-19, down by 74 since Friday, with 32 in intensive care - a decrease of three.
