Covid in Scotland: Face masks could remain mandatory until Christmas, says John Swinney

Boris Johnson's next trip north in a bid to not offend him, according to reports. Cops in Scotland named the security assignment "Operation Bunter", however it has been switched after concerns were raised within the force.The name of the operation echoed the fictional overweight schoolboy Billy Bunter.

referendum could be held “if there is a settled will” for one.

Shetland has been hailed by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Aylesha Meades, who worked tirelessly for Who Cares? Scotland, sadly passed away in hospital after falling unwell on St Ninian’s beach last month.

Covid-19 vaccine to vulnerable teenagers in certain groups by the end of August. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon previously announced plans to jab some youngsters aged between 12 and 17, including those with Down's Syndrome, learning difficulties or those who are immunosuppressed or live with someone who is.

UK Government will not stand in the way of an independence referendum forever, according to Boris Johnson’s most senior Scottish cabinet minister. Michael Gove – who heads Downing Street’s so-called Union Unit – said that if there is a “settled will” for a rerun of the 2014 vote, then “one will occur”.

jabs by tomorrow, but Labour say this target has not been met. Scottish Labour MSP Jackie Baillie said: “The SNP’s failure to meet this flagship target is humiliating for them – but it should worry us all.

drug deaths in 2019 - the highest rate in Europe. Politicians and campaigners declared a national emergency and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who admitted taking her “eye off the ball”, announced £250m of funding to address the crisis.

Scotland's long-awaited move to Level 0 in Covid restrictions, meaning a range of new freedom for people up and down the country. And today, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will hold a briefing to update Scots on the latest case numbers, trends and advice.

Perth and Kinross as the area enters level zero of restrictions – but nearly 10 per cent of the adult population remain completely unvaccinated. Back on June 18 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said it was expected all Scottish adults would have had their first dose of the vaccine by July 18.But the latest figures show 9.1 per cent of over 18s in Perth and Kinross have still not had any dose.The largest proportion of unvaccinated adults are those aged 18 to 29.

Covid have come into the spotlight once again. Tory Health Secretary Sajid Javid revealed that he had tested positive for the virus on Saturday, In a video, the UK Government minister said that he had received both vaccinations and was experiencing ‘mild’ symptoms.

Get the latest Scottish politics news sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletterBoris Johnson has quickly caved to public anger and agreed to self-isolate after having contact with health Secretary Sajid Javid who tested covid positive on the weekend.The Prime Minister faced growing public anger on Sunday morning after officials said Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak would avoid self-isolating like thousands of others because Downing Street is taking part in a pilot daily testing

was narrowly passed last night - was "morally indefensible". Boris Johnson saw off a rebellion of 24 Tories – including his predecessor Theresa May – in a vote on reducing spending on foreign aid from 0.7% of gross national income (GNI) to 0.5%.

face masks could remain mandatory for people in Scotland until Christmas.John Swinney was asked if the rules around coverings implemented during the height of the first wave of the covid pandemic could stay in place until December, he replied "that's perfectly conceivable". During a Scottish Government announcement yesterday on the latest lockdown situation in Scotland Nicola Sturgeon said mask rules would remain passed ' Freedom Day ' on August 9.

John Swinney.The country's Deputy First Minister - and Covid Recovery Minister - revealed the detail from the Scottish Government's modelling, which predicts the number of cases and deaths as a result of the virus.First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced today that Scotland would move to the lowest of its Covid-19 restrictions on July 19 as planned.It means up to eight people from up to four households can meet within homes, while outside up to 15 people from up to 15 households can get together

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vaccination rates in Scotland dropped to their lowest level in three months. The Scottish and UK Governments both follow guidance on jabs from the Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunisations (JCVI).

SNP Health Secretary said the government was starting to see a "positive trend" beginning to emerge in the data despite cases of covid still being high. Cases peaked at 4,234 on July 1 following a sharp rise over the previous month due to the spread of the Delta variant which originated in India.First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will set out the next step of changes to coronavirus restrictions in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday.

contact tracing system’s performance fell below World Health Organisation (WHO) standards recently, sparking fierce criticism of the Scottish Government. It only reached 65.1% of infected people’s close contacts within 72 hours in the week ending June 27 and 73.1% the following week – both below the WHO target of 80%.First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has acknowledged contact times “fell below” the desired level but said changes are being made to speed up the process.

Nicola Sturgeon has expressed hopes cases of coronavirus in Scotland are now 'levelling off' after a sharp rise in recent weeks.The First Minister has said she remains optimistic that Scotland’s lockdown easing will still go ahead as planned despite a recent surge in Covid cases.But Ms Sturgeon hinted that not all rules scheduled to be removed from July 19 may be implemented as part of Scotland’s planned move to Level 0.She said: “Next Tuesday I will set out to parliament the final decision on