Regular visiting will resume in Scottish care homes from early March, with residents allowed to have two designated visitors each, ministers confirmed yesterday.
The move comes as Nicola Sturgeon prepares to detail the roadmap out of lockdown on Tuesday.
Relatives of care home residents have campaigned for visits to resume and, as the vaccine programme rolls out, designated visitors, who will be urged to be tested on-site and will wear PPE, will soon be able to see their relatives once a week.
Data released last week showed care home coronavirus deaths had fallen by 62% in the last three weeks, with the figure cited by the first minister as the earliest “hard evidence” of the vaccine’s impact.
Almost all residents have received the jag, along with 92% of care home staff and the government says that with the extra protection in place, the greater risk to residents’ wellbeing is from a lack of family contact.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce his plan to ease lockdown in England tomorrow.
A further 29 Covid-19 deaths were recorded yesterday in Scotland, taking the death toll to 6,945. There were 1,154 Covid patients in hospital, with 102 in intensive care. Official figures also show 803 new cases, with test positivity rate of 4.6%.
The vaccine rollout has slowed due to short-term supply issues but data shows 1,412,643 have now had a first dose.
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