The Scottish Conservatives have demanded that Nicola Sturgeon “give up control” of Covid restrictions, by finally bringing an end to all legal requirements in her Covid statement on Wednesday.
Calling on Nicola Sturgeon to “trust the public”, Douglas Ross has warned the First Minister not to delay further or backtrack on plans for lifting restrictions.
The Scottish Conservative Leader claimed that “the SNP's Covid strategy has failed”.
Despite retaining facemask requirements for more than two months longer than England, Scotland’s Covid case rate has been considerably higher than England’s since mid-February.
Scotland’s last legal restrictions, including the requirement to wear facemasks in shops and on public transport, were due to be lifted on March 21 – but Nicola Sturgeon backtracked to delay the lifting of facemask restrictions indefinitely.
The Scottish Conservatives have called on the SNP Government to remove the remaining blanket restriction in favour of allowing individuals to take personal responsibility.
Scottish Conservative Leader, Douglas Ross said: “Nicola Sturgeon must give up control over people's lives and ditch Covid rules tomorrow.
“She can’t use the higher case rates that she has completely failed to reduce as an excuse to delay or backtrack on lifting the remaining restrictions.
“We have now been living under some form of legal Covid restrictions for over two years. Nicola Sturgeon must now start to trust the Scottish public to keep themselves safe.
“Despite their overly cautious approach, the SNP’s Covid strategy has failed. Scotland’s infection rates have been significantly higher than England’s for several weeks.
“All the SNP have achieved with their dithering and delays is to prolong the hardship of the public and businesses.
“Nicola Sturgeon cannot keep Scotland in Covid restrictions forever. It's time we got back to normality.”