OREANDA-NEWS. Scotland will lift coronavirus-related restrictions on August 9, said the region's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon.

"I can confirm that from Monday, August 9, we will go beyond the current 'zero' level of restrictions," she said during a virtual meeting with the Scottish Parliament. We are talking about the abolition of most of the remaining legally established restrictions - first of all, on physical distance and restrictions on the number of participants in public meetings.

However, according to Sturgeon, masking in shops and public transport will remain mandatory. At the same time, the Scottish authorities recommend keeping a distance in the premises and avoiding crowded places.

The head of Scotland noted that the incidence rate peaked in early July, amounting to 425 infections per 100 thousand inhabitants, and now it has decreased by two-thirds - to 144 cases.

Advances in vaccination have helped lift the restrictions, Sturgeon said. “Everyone over 18 can now get at least one dose of the vaccine, and everyone over 40 can get both doses,” she said.

Earlier, Scotland refused to lift quarantine restrictions due to an increase in the number of infections and a new strain of coronavirus.

Since July 19, the UK has lifted all internal restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic - citizens are no longer required to wear masks and maintain social distance, and workers can start returning to offices. At the same time, the authorities still recommended wearing masks in crowded closed places, for example, in transport, and to admit visitors to places with a large crowd of people, use the NHS Covid-pass, which confirms the presence of a vaccine, a negative PCR test or antibodies.