Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says Scots are unlikely to be able to travel abroad this summer. She says they might not even be able to take domestic holidays this Easter. While school children will return to the classroom this month, there will be no wider relaxing of lockdown rules she says.
In an update to the Scottish parliament, Ms Sturgeon said there will be no wider relaxation of coronavirus restrictions north of the border before the start of March.
And she said that exit from social and economic restrictions will be “more cautious” than it was last summer, to ward off the risk of a new flare-up of Covid-19 and a return to lockdown.
“Getting children back to education may mean the rest of us living with some restrictions for longer,” she told MSPs.
The Scottish government is due next week to publish a strategic framework for the gradual lifting of lockdown restrictions north of the border.
And Ms Sturgeon warned that it will not give the all-clear for families to book holidays.
“We are very likely to advise against booking Easter holidays either overseas or within Scotland, as it is highly unlikely that we will have been able to fully open hotels or self-catering accommodation by then,” she said.
“However, for the summer, while it’s still highly unlikely that overseas holidays will be possible or advisable, staycations might be. But this will depend on the data nearer the time.”
The first minister told the Holyrood assembly that her cabinet had agreed at a meeting this morning to make schools the priority for a cautious easing of restrictions.
