Nicola Sturgeon bans 'stay alert' advice from Scotland as she announces small change to lockdown rules

Nicola Sturgeon has flat-out rejected Boris Johnson’s new “stay alert” strategy saying it will not be deployed in Scotland “full stop.”

Describing Downing Street’s new lockdown message as “vague and imprecise”, the Scottish First Minister confirmed she had asked that the campaign not be "deployed north of the border.”

Ms Sturgeon told Sunday's Holyrood briefing: "Clarity of message is paramount if we expect all of you to know exactly what it is we are asking of you.

"As leaders we have a duty to deliver that clarity to those we are accountable to, not to confuse it.

"To that end I have asked UK government not to deploy their ''stay alert' advertising campaign in Scotland.

"The message in Scotland at this stage is not 'stay at home if you can', the message is 'except for the essential reasons you know about stay at home full stop'."

She told the press briefing: “General consultation and alignment of messages remains really important.

"We should not be reading of each other's plans in newspapers, and decisions that are being taken for one nation only for good evidence-based reasons should not be presented as if they apply UK-wide."

Ms Sturgeon then set out her own cautious lockdown plans for Scotland, announcing that the cap on daily exercise had been scrapped for residents – a move also expected to be announced by Mr Johnson when he delivers his "road map" speech.

The First Minister said: “From tomorrow, that once a day limit will be removed.

“If you want to go for a walk more often, or to go for a run and also a walk later on in the day then you can now do so.”

However, she clarified that the exercise relaxation did not apply to those who have symptoms or are living with someone who is showing symptoms, or those who are in the shielding group.

Ms Sturgeon said it was to be used for exercise only and should not be used for “sunbathing, picnics or barbecues”.

She added: “The fact that you’re allowed to exercise more than once is definitely not a licence to start meeting up in groups at the park or at the beach.

“Doing that really does risk spreading this virus.”

The First Minister also said that the Scottish Government would monitor the figures this week in a bid to assess if more changes can be made to the lockdown guidance, including increasing the number of activities people can undertake outside.

Ms Sturgeon said any announcement will come next weekend.

Before the briefing, Scottish Government statistics showed that a total of 1,857 patients have died after contracting Covid-19, with 13,486 people having tested positive for the virus overall – up by 181 from 13,305 the day before.

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