Nicola Sturgeon has announced an earlier lifting of travel restrictions within Scotland.
From Friday, travel will be allowed to and from anywhere in Scotland for the purposes of socialising and recreation.
The limits on the number of people and households allowed to meet will also be increased.
Six people from up to six households will be able to meet, as long as they are outdoors. Children under 12 are not included in the total.
Sturgeon said: “From the end of this week, you will be able to meet up with family and friends who live in different parts of the country.
“Many of those reunions will be long-awaited, and much anticipated. I hope you enjoy them.
“But please do remember that meetings at this stage must still be outdoors – not inside our homes. Please be careful. And remember that due to physical distancing, public transport capacity will be limited.”
Travel restrictions for wider purposes, including leisure, shopping, visiting hospitality premises or staying in tourist accommodation will still remain in place until April 26.
Travel to England and Wales will also be allowed from that date, with confirmation on measures for Northern Ireland still to be confirmed.
Planned timetable for levels system
April 26 – Sturgeon “extremely confident” areas in level 4 will move to level 3. Islands already at level 3 will remain there
May 17 – Whole country expected to move to level 2
Early June – Move to level 1
Late June – Move to level 0
Today’s briefing comes as Sturgeon said “significant progress” has been made in reducing the number of Covid-19 cases in Scotland.
The first minister said figures are now at their lowest since September, and have fallen by 40% in the past two weeks.
But she warned against complacency as Scotland continues to tackle the virus, saying: “We’ve got to be careful not to do too much all at once, because we don’t want the virus quickly gaining ground again, particularly because this new variant is we know more infectious and setting us all back.”
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