Sturgeon hopes Scotland is close to ending restriction despite ‘bumps in the road’ with new variants

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Photo: Scottish government.

The First Minister believes Scotland is close to returning to normality despite suffering a “bump in the road” with new forms of the virus.

Nicola Sturgeon, speaking in a lunchtime briefing today (Friday) said everyone should hope – and expect – to soon progress further down the levels.

However, she said there were “always going to be bumps on the road” and urged people to “stick with it”.

She noted problems with the so-called Indian variant, now referred to as  APR02, which had seen rising cases in Glasgow, Moray,

While Ms Sturgeon was able to confirm Moray’s move to level two, Glasgow will have to wait another week.

But with “remarkable” vaccine progress, she said there were “really strong grounds for optimism”.

Ms Sturgeon issued a “call to action” for everyone to be ultra careful, get vaccinated as soon as they are invited and get tested.