Covid: Yousaf warns 'cases will rise' as restrictions ease

Scotland's health secretary has warned that coronavirus cases will rise as a result of Monday's easing of restrictions.

Humza Yousaf said people should remember the pandemic "is not over".

From 9 August, social distancing will be dropped in most settings and children under 12 will no longer have to wear masks. Nightclubs will also be allowed to reopen.

The MSP said people should enjoy the new rules but remain careful.

He also said he was hopeful that further lockdowns could be avoided in the winter, but that there was "no guarantee".

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland's The Sunday Show, he said: "We would expect cases to rise as people interact more, potentially in bigger numbers.

"Also when the schools return we would expect more cases. But that is the precise reasoning why we are keeping some mitigations in place. The modelling will hopefully tell us that the pressure we are facing on the NHS will be in a place we can cope with."

On Friday, new Scottish government guidance suggested that some measures - such as face coverings - would be in place until 2022. Distancing of 2m will also be kept in healthcare settings.

The health secretary said it was difficult to tell what would happen over the winter months.

"All it takes of course is a new variant that the vaccine is not effective, or less effective but we have had such a successful vaccine programme that there have been so many people vaccinated, I would be confident we wouldn't have to go into a full lockdown," he said.

"But I couldn't give you a cast-iron guarantee of that in the future."

Mr Yousaf said people were right to look forward to the end of some restrictions.

"We should look forward to tomorrow. Monday is a significant day," he said.

"We are lifting some really big restrictions - limits on gatherings, limits that mean so much to people."

But he said that there was a reason that the term "freedom day", used in England last month, was discouraged in Scotland.

He told BBC Scotland News: "The Scottish government has not used and has quashed any suggestion that it is "freedom day". We don't use that phrase because Covid has not gone away .

"Although case numbers have been going in the right trajectory for a number of weeks we still have high cases and unfortunately people are still dying from Covid."

On Saturday, some drop-in clinics began to vaccinate the 16-17-year-old age group.

The Scottish government hopes to have offered a first dose to this cohort within weeks.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) made the recommendation to add this age group on Wednesday. And all mainland health boards are expected to be vaccinating the teenagers from Tuesday.

Mr Yousaf also said the Scottish government would continue to push the JCVI to recommend vaccinations for even younger children.

Edinburgh University public health expert Prof Linda Bauld said she would like to see this.

She said: "I think it would make a difference because we have got a reservoir of infection potentially in the community in people who have got lots of social contacts, including teenagers, moving around.

"So if you have a younger person who is unvaccinated and can pass it on more easily then people who are vaccinated might also pick it up and that might include the more vulnerable and older.

"The MHRA has licensed the vaccine in those age groups and everybody is waiting to for the JCVI to say the next step may be 12-15 year olds. I hope they make that decision but I don't have all the evidence they are looking at all the time."