The First Minister yesterday outlined Scotland’s roadmap out of Covid restrictions as she updated Holyrood on the latest pandemic situation.
In her weekly Covid update on Tuesday, she announced the publication of the Scottish Government’s Covid strategic framework.
Nicola Sturgeon announced the legal end to mask wearing in indoor spaces such as public transport and shops and also that the Covid vaccine passport scheme would be scrapped.
Additionally she revealed that PCR testing would continue to be free in Scotland, in contrast to Boris Johnson’s announcement on Monday.
READ MORE: Scotland’s new three-tier restrictions plan explained
How are Nicola Sturgeon’s Covid plans different to Boris Johnson’s?
In his announcement on Monday, Boris Johnson announced his ‘living with Covid’ plans and set out a four-principled approach for England.
The Prime Minister said that the ending of all Covid restrictions in England would begin by removing “all remaining domestic restrictions in law".
He said that from Thursday, February 24, the legal requirement for people in England to self-isolate if they have Covid would end.
He also announced an end to self-isolation support payments, although Covid provisions for statutory sick pay can still be claimed for a further month.
Mr Johnson also announced an end to routine contact tracing and said that the government would no longer ask fully vaccinated close contacts and those under 18 to test daily for seven days.
While there has never been a legal requirement to self-isolate in Scotland, Ms Sturgeon said that guidance asking Scots who have caught Covid to self-isolate would continue.
She said that free PCR testing would continue in Scotland and that Scots should now take lateral flow tests twice a week rather than every time they leave the house which has been recommended previously.
Ms Sturgeon said that the Scottish Government’s strategic framework would rely less on legally imposed measures, and thus the legal requirement for wearing face coverings in shops and public transport would end on March 21, however strong guidance to continue doing so would still be recommended.
She added that the Covid vaccine passport scheme would end on February 28.
How did Nicola Sturgeon react to Boris Johnson’s Covid update?
Nicola Sturgeon expressed frustration over Boris Johnson's approach to Covid testing which he outlined in his announcement on Monday.
The Scottish Government is "determined to retain" free Covid testing, in contrast to England.
Ms Sturgeon criticised the decision by Boris Johnson to end universally free testing and said that the Scottish Government was looking for clarity on funding for the testing programme for devolved countries.
The First Minister said: “Current funding arrangements mean that though taxpayers in all four UK nations contribute to the costs, it is decisions taken for England that determine the resources available to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for testing and other Covid measures.
“As of now, we have no clarity on how much of the Covid testing infrastructure the UK government intends to retain; no clarity on how much investment will support it in future; and no clarity on whether the Treasury will provide additional resources to pay for it or demand instead that funding is taken from elsewhere in the health budget.
“I hope we get this clarity soon so that we can out in more detail our longer-term approach to testing.
“However, and I will say more later, I want to give an assurance that the Scottish Government is determined to retain a robust testing system capable of providing Scotland with strong resilience against future Covid threats, and firmly aligned with public health advice and the principles underpinning our National Health Service.”
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