Edinburgh and the rest of Scotland will see more changes to Covid-19 restrictions today.
Nicola Sturgeon announced a further relaxation of coronavirus restrictions as cases of the new Omicron variant begin to drop.
Ms Sturgeon made her latest update to parliament this week as the latest Public Health Scotland figures show improved data and announced the new rules for social distancing and masks.
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However despite the drop in infections, the PHS data shows Edinburgh has the highest amount of new cases in Scotland.
In Edinburgh there were 449 new cases as of January 26, 2741 across the week and 105,152 since the pandemic started last year.
Scotland has recorded 20 coronavirus-linked deaths and 8,275 new cases in the past 24 hours, according to latest figures, published on Thursday.
It means the death toll under this measurement, of people who tested positive for the virus in the previous 28 days, has risen to 10,275.
There were 1,319 people in hospital on Wednesday with recently-confirmed covid-19, down 70 on the day before, with 30 in intensive care, down two.
But despite a fall in figures, Nicola Sturgeon warned Scots of the ‘unpredictable’ threat that the virus continues to pose.
The First Minister said that change to latter of these rules will be of benefit to younger children and to those working with them.
Furthermore, on Tuesday Nicola Sturgeon announced that restrictions on working in the office will be eased from Monday, January 31.
The First Minister said that the data from the last week “paints another broadly positive picture” following a significant drop in case numbers since the start of the month.
She said: “The welcome progress of the past week to so has been made possible by a combination of booster vaccination, the proportionate measures introduced in December, and of course the willingness of the public to adapt behaviour to stem transmission.
“All of that made a difference and has helped, I’m good to say, send Omicron into reverse.
“This progress is real and I am very hopeful that it can be sustained.
“That said, we know there are still uncertainties ahead and this virus, of course, continues to be unpredictable.
“All of this means that while our return to more normality can be made with confidence, we should still exercise some caution.”
As of today (Friday), the following two changes have been made to Scotland’s Covid restrictions:
- Social distancing measures will be reduced from two metres to one in indoor settings where people have a specific exemption from the need to wear a face covering - such as those leading religious services or carrying out receptionist duties.
- Adults taking part in organised activities for children will no longer be required to wear a face covering when they are directly interacting with kids under the age of five.
