The restriction on travelling around Scotland will be lifted from Friday, while people are to be permitted to meet up together in larger groups outside.
First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, has said that measures were being eased earlier than originally planned in order to help aid people’s mental health.
People will be permitted to meet other adults in groups of up to six from as many six households within outdoor settings.
And people in Scotland will be allowed to travel across the entirety Scotland to do so, permitted that they do not stay overnight in another location.
Other lockdown restrictions are expected to be eased from the 26th of April, with premises such as shops, gyms, pubs and restaurants set to reopen on a restricted basis.
This comes after pub-goers will need to wrap up warm, with low temperatures forecast as outdoor hospitality, such as beer gardens, reopen in England. Snow, sleet and low, freezing temperatures forecast for large parts of the United Kingdom.
Hospitality businesses in the country will be required to close their doors at the curew times of 20:00 indoors and 22:00 outside of the premises, with alcohol only being allowed to be served outdoors.
Restrictions on travel out of Scotland to other parts of the United Kingdom are also expected to be lifted from the 26th of April.
From the 17th of May, pubs will be allowed to open indoors until the curfew time of 22:30 and cinemas, contact sports, and some small scale events will be permitted to take place.
Up to four people from two separate households will also be able to meet up indoors from the date.
Outdoor drinking and dining had resumed on Monday in England, with hairdressers, shops, gyms and zoos also reopening their doors.
And many hospitality and tourism businesses within Scotland have criticised a more cautious approach being taken north of the border.
Chief executive of the Scottish Beer and Pub Association, Emma McClarkin, said Ms Sturgeon’s announcement “falls short of what is required to make licensed premises viable”.
She added: “We desperately need a return to licensing hours indoors, as well as allowing alcohol to be sold indoors from 26 April.
This comes after 1.1 million people in private households in the UK have reported having long COVID, latest estimates show. The data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) defined the condition as symptoms that lasted more than four weeks and are self-reported, rather than clinically diagnosed.
“The first minister points to indoor reopening being ahead of England, but without alcohol service it is meaningless to licensed hospitality businesses and little comfort to Scottish brewers and other parts of the supply chain who will see no benefit.”
However, Ms Sturgeon has warned that “we do still need to be cautious” in order to keep case numbers down and to prevent the new variants of the coronavirus from being imported.
