DOUGLAS Ross has called for the re-opening of gyms and schools in Scotland to be accelerated when Nicola Sturgeon updates MSPs on her Government's exit from the lockdown on Tuesday.

The Scottish Conservatives are appealing for gyms to reopen three weeks earlier than anticipated as case numbers continue to decline across Scotland.

The party has stressed that gyms should reopen safely around April 5 when the ‘stay at home’ message ends, instead of April 26 when the Tories believe the Scottish Government will allow them to re-open as things stand.

The Scottihs Tory leader has also called for the return to schools to be propelled forward quicker amid the progress in suppressing the virus.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said when Ms Sturgeon announces any changes tomorrow, she will set out the Scottish Government’s intention to “try to relax lockdown as quickly as we possibly can do”, but warned “we have to do it in a sustainable manner”.

Mr Ross has pointed to comments by public health professionals who have indicated the virus is in decline and prevalence rates have reduced to low levels.

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He also highlighted that hospital admissions have also fallen faster than the most optimistic Scottish Government projections.

Mr Ross said: “The update tomorrow has to offer a lot more hope and optimism than the bleak picture the First Minister painted last time.

“The huge success of Scotland and the UK’s vaccine scheme has brought the virus back under control and we should now look to safely start on the road back to normality.”

He added: “The SNP already u-turned on their plan to keep some pupils out of schools until mid-April. We encourage them to go further and safely return all pupils to school over the next week.

“We also believe the public health data makes an accelerated reopening of gyms possible. Given how important exercise is to mental and physical wellbeing, we believe that the safe re-opening of gyms should be prioritised for early re-opening.”

Speaking at the daily coronavirus update, Mr Swinney said “all of the data we look at is moving in the right direction”, pointing to reducing case numbers and test positivity rates.

He added: “The vaccination programme is obviously going well and it’s got comprehensive footing within our community. The pressure on our hospitals, while still significant, is not as grave as it was.

“There are a lot of grounds for optimism.

“The First Minister will set out what measures we can take tomorrow and the First Minister has been clear that we will try to relax lockdown as quickly as we possibly can do, but we have to do it in a sustainable manner.

"That means taking the appropriate steps in the appropriate sequence to make sure that we don’t run the risk of the virus running away from us again.”

The Herald: Deputy First Minister John SwinneyDeputy First Minister John Swinney

Mr Swinney was asked whether the re-opening of schools could be accelerated amid the brighter picture.

Pointing to the phased return to lessons in Scotland, the Deputy First Minister who is also the Education Secretary, said “we have done that with the appropriate pace” adding that it was “a sustainable route to take forward”.

He added: “We’ve got to exercise caution, we’ve got to monitor what is the effect of particular changes that we make to make sure there’s not a detrimental effect on the spread of the virus.”

Pointing to the initial return of younger pupils and some older secondary pupils who need to carry out practical work, Mr Swinney added: “There doesn’t appear to be, on the face of it, any damaging effect on the reduction of the prevalence of the virus.”