At today’s media briefing the First Minister said that there are signs that the situation in Glasgow is stabilising in the postcodes at the heart of the initial outbreak and across the city generally, and that, if that trend continues, the city can move to Level 2 from 00:01 on Saturday 5 June.
Further funding has been made available to Glasgow City Council to provide additional support for businesses in hospitality and leisure in Glasgow, with grants ranging from £250 to £750 per week.
Other areas of concern across Scotland continue to be monitored closely, including Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire and Clackmannanshire. These areas will remain in Level 2 for now, although public health efforts will be intensified to tackle the increased prevalence.
The Scottish Government’s timetable for easing restrictions has been published. The timetable sets out how and when we plan to lift the current coronavirus restrictions over the coming weeks and months.
The First Minister also covered the following (28.5.21):
- Daily statistics: the First Minister confirmed that 641 new positive cases were identified in the past 24 hours, of which 234 were in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area, 132 in Lothian, and 104 in the Lanarkshire health board. The number of people in hospital had increased to 90 (+7), while 6 (+2) are also in ICUs, and 2 deaths were registered in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of deaths under that measurement to 7,668.
- Vaccination statistics: 3,196,051 people received a first dose of the Covid vaccine, which was an increase of 21,244 since yesterday. 28,721 got a second dose of the vaccine yesterday, bringing the total number of those fully vaccinated to 1,971,006.
- The First Minister provided an overview of the situation in Scotland, highlighting that case numbers were rising and had increased by more than a quarter in the past week. The Indian variant was now thought to be responsible for 50% or more of new cases in Scotland and the R number could be as high as 1.3.
- In terms of Glasgow, due to “uncomfortably high cases”, the First Minister announced that the city will remain under Level 3 for another week and that affected businesses would be provided with the necessary support. However, she also said that the situation was stabilising that that she was hopeful that Glasgow could move to Level 2 by 5 June. She will make the decision by 2 June.
- With mainland Scotland expected to move from Level 2 to Level 1 on 7 June, the First Minister said that she was planning to confirm to the Scottish Parliament on 1 June “whether and to what extent that move will proceed.”