NICOLA Sturgeon has said she is “optimistic” Scotland can lift more lockdown restrictions next week after two consecutive days without any confirmed deaths from coronavirus.

The First Minister said the disease was “in retreat”, meaning it should be possible to move to the second stage of her four-phase exit strategy on June 18.

Phase 2 could see two households meeting indoors again, subject to social distancing, larger groups meeting outdoors, and the re-opening of beer gardens and outdoor restaurants. 

Professional sport could also restart, marriages and civil partnerships resume, and smaller stores re-open, subject to physical distancing.

However Mr Sturgeon had tougher news for the 180,000 people most at risk from Covid, the shielding group, who may have to observe a tighter lockdown to July 31. 

Although the group, who have been told to stay indoors throughout the outbreak, will be able to go outside for exercise, they are still advised not to socialise with other households.

The measures are more restrictive than for those shielding south of the Border.
At the Scottish Government daily briefing, Ms Sturgeon said the number of people known to have died from a laboratory-confirmed case of Covid was 2,415, the same as on Saturday.

Northern Ireland also recorded a second day without deaths, while the number of fatalities in England fell to 55, the lowest daily increase since March 21, just before the lockdown started. 

Ms Sturgeon said: “This is the second day in a row that no deaths have been registered in the preceding 24 hours. This is obviously very encouraging. 

“I can’t tell how much I have longed to report such a development – and I know you will have longed to hear that.”

However, she cautioned it was likely some deaths would be reported in the days ahead, given the lower than average registrations at weekends.

She also reminded people the threat from coronavirus remained a potent one. 

She said: “This is such a crucial juncture in our battle against the virus. 

“We will either keep going, keep beating it back – or we will give it the chance to roar back with a vengeance.

“We must do the former. If we break the chains of transmission even more and drive down the number of new cases to a lower base, the safer it will be to more meaningfully ease the restrictions and speed up our journey back to some normality.

“And if we do keep making the progress we have in the last few weeks, I am optimistic that 10 days from now at the next formal review, we will be able to move, at least in part, into the next phase of our route-map out of lockdown, with more individual freedoms restored and more businesses able to open up again.”

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Addressing the shielding group, who were advised in March to stay indoors to June 18, she said her message would “not be an easy one for you to hear”.

However, the medical advice was that they should continue to shield until the “backstop date” of July 31, pending tailored advice on easing their restrictions.

In the meantime, those shielding, unless they lived in a nursing or residential care home, could go outside for unlimited exercise while staying 2m from others.

However, they should not return to work or meet other households, even at a distance. She said if the advice could be changed safely before July 31, it would be.

Responding to news of more than 240 staff facing redundancy at the Crieff Hydro family of seven hotels following a collapse in bookings, Ms Sturgeon said: “My heart breaks for businesses - family-owned businesses perhaps in particular - that have invested their blood, sweat and tears over many years. It is absolutely devastating. 

“That’s why I’m so determined that we go forward in a way and at a pace that gets the economy back into operation as quickly as possible.

“But the point I can’t escape is that if we get that pace wrong and if we go more quickly than we should, then we risk setting things back.”

The Scottish Retail Consortium’s David Lonsdale said: “Those stores still to be allowed to re-open are working hard to get ready to do so safely, putting in place the necessary social distancing and hygiene measures to protect customers and staff.

“Whenever that day comes, retail will be ready to play its part in getting Scotland’s economy moving again. Retail can be a springboard for the economy to bounce back but it must be able to open.”

Boris Johnson will today discuss a further easing of the lockdown south of the Border with his cabinet, including the possibility of opening pubs and restaurants for outdoor customers amid fears of 3.5m job losses in the hospitality sector.

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UK health secretary Matt Hancock said it was now clear the coronavirus was “in retreat across the country,” noting how the R rate of infection was below one across all nations and regions.

He insisted the UK Government was taking a “safety-first approach” and denied there was a “trade-off” between protecting the economy and protecting health.

 Earlier during Commons exchanges, the Secretary of State pointed out how there had been no deaths in London hospitals, which he described as a “real milestone for the capital,” which in the early stages of the pandemic had faced the biggest peak.

But Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth said: “Many now fear that the Prime Minister is starting to throw caution to the wind.”

Elsewhere, modelling by Imperial College London suggested around three million deaths might have been prevented by the various lockdowns across Europe.