Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed that lockdown-easing plans are to go ahead - including the next phase of the return to school - as she told the Scottish Parliament that the continued fall in Covid cases allows for “cautious optimism”.
The first minster told MSPs today that primary children will return to school next week as planned, along with more secondary students. It means that, from Monday, all pupils will be back in school buildings for at least a portion of the week.
Children in Primary 4-7 are due to join their younger classmates back in schools from Monday, with all secondary students due to spend some time in school each week before a planned full return after the Easter holidays.
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The first minister’s statement today marked the confirmation of revised plans revealed on 2 March, which proved hugely controversial. The new plans, which entailed the earlier-than-expected return of S1-3 students, were described as the “worst-case scenario” given the logistical problems they presented to secondary schools at short notice.
Schools reopening: The next stage
Ms Sturgeon spoke as the latest Covid-19 figures showed 22 deaths from the virus and 591 positive tests recorded in the previous 24 hours.
It brings the death toll in Scotland under this measure - of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days - to 7,483.
Marking the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaring Covid-19 a pandemic, Ms Sturgeon said there were grounds for optimism.
“The last 12 months have been incredibly tough - unimaginably tough for everybody,” she said.
“But as I indicated on Tuesday, we do now have real grounds for optimism, albeit cautious optimism.
“Case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths have all fallen in recent weeks and when we publish the latest estimate of the R [Covid reproduction] number later today, we expect it to show that it remains below one.
“And, of course, the vaccination programme has given a first dose to 40 per cent of the entire adult population and it is set to significantly accelerate over the next few weeks.”
She told MSPs that the Scottish government “will go ahead as planned with the next stage of the reopening of schools on Monday”.
She added: “In addition, changes to the rules on outdoor meetings and activities, which I set out on Tuesday, will come into force tomorrow and, as I have indicted, next Tuesday I will provide more information about our plans for the phased reopening of the economy.”
On Tuesday of last week, Ms Sturgeon triggered an angry response from secondary headteachers when she made the “shock” announcement that all secondary students - not just those in S4-6 - would be returning to school next week.
She said that senior-phase students were to be prioritised but those in S1-3 were also to get some in-person teaching each week.
Secondary heads said they had been blindsided by the decision, with one school leader describing it as the “worst-case scenario”. However, the move was supported by the government’s scientific and public health advisers, providing masks are “worn throughout the day by all secondary-aged pupils” and two-metre distancing is in place in secondary. They also said there should be “a final decision checkpoint as close to the indicative date of 15 March as is feasible”.
Now secondary schools have started to publish their timetabling plans for the coming weeks but they have come in for criticism from opposition MSPs, who argue that some students will not get enough face-to-face teaching.
Secondary staff, however, have pointed out that the requirement for social distancing between students means that in some schools it is only possible to have a third of the roll in at any one time.
