It looks increasingly like the peak of the current surge has not yet arrived in England, and the recent slowdowns may have been temporary. However, Scotland holds out hope it may not be too far off.
Infections are rising rapidly in Scotland, but have not translated into a large number of hospitalisations. The recent surge appears to be related to Euro 2020, with infections concentrated among men aged 15–44.
Nicola Sturgeon says that Scottish lockdown restrictions will likely be maintained for a further three weeks from June 28th (when restrictions were supposed to be eased) so as to "buy time" to fully vaccinate more Scots.
Learner drivers in Scotland face a 16-week wait to sit a theory test due to the backlog caused by lockdowns and the continuation of social distancing guidelines at test centres.
Nicola Sturgeon says Scottish children will be vaccinated "as quickly as possible" if the JCVI approves the vaccination of children aged 12 and over. Planning for a child vaccine roll-out has started already.
The lifting of lockdown restrictions has been halted in much of Scotland because of the Indian Covid variant, but there is “cautious optimism” that the final step of England's roadmap could go ahead as planned.
Lockdown restrictions are set to be partially eased in Scotland next week, but the Health Secretary says that stricter rules are likely to remain in parts of the country where the number of positive tests is increasing.
Prof Devi Sridhar, who advises the Scottish Government on Covid, has U-turned on the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine against variants (she now believes it works), and says "we must move away from harsh lockdowns".
Scotland's Supreme Leader, Nic Sturge-On, has announced that the lockdown rules will remain in force in Glasgow and Moray after Monday while restrictions are eased in the rest of Scotland.
Restrictions on meeting both indoors and outdoors will be partially eased across most of Scotland on Monday – but it's bad news if you live in Moray, where current restrictions are expected to remain in place.
