No move to end the requirement to wear face coverings in Scottish schools has been announced by first minister Nicola Sturgeon this afternoon.
Speculation had been circulating that a change in the requirements for face coverings would be revealed today.
However, despite highlighting encouraging data around Covid cases, Ms Sturgeon said that “throwing all caution to the wind would be a mistake”.
Data for the past 13 days shows “a significant fall in the number of new positive cases”, Ms Sturgeon said, but “there are still some uncertainties ahead, and so throwing all caution to the wind would be a mistake”.
She added: “For example, the full impact of the return to work and school after the festive break won’t be apparent yet in the data. So it is possible that we will see case numbers tick up again in the next couple of weeks.”
Covid: Face masks remain in Scottish schools
Ms Sturgeon said that “the evidence I set out last week, suggesting that the situation was beginning to improve, has significantly strengthened in the past seven days”.
She added: “A combination of booster vaccinations, the willingness of the public to adapt their behaviour to help stem transmission and the temporary protective measures introduced in December has helped blunt the impact of the Omicron wave.”
Before Ms Sturgeon’s announcement this afternoon, the Scottish Conservatives called for most Covid safety measures to end from 31 January, including rules on wearing face coverings in schools.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: “The Scottish government’s own data shows that we are past the peak of Omicron. The latest evidence means we can now be far more optimistic.”
He added: “We believe the balance must now tip in favour of trusting the Scottish public to do the right thing and keep themselves and their families safe, as they have done throughout this pandemic.”
Linda Bauld, a professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh, said today that there is now enough data to be confident that Covid cases have been reducing since early January.
She told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland radio programme: “I think we’ve got enough data now to see what the true picture is, and I think that the reduction in infection in the community appears genuine.”
She said the only caveat was that schools had returned recently from the Christmas holidays and the full picture around this may not yet have emerged.
