Thread by @theSNP

First Minister @NicolaSturgeon: "Good afternoon, thanks for joining us again today. As usual, I will take you through today's statistics."

NS: "Yesterday there were 476 positive cases reported, which is 4.7% of the total number of tests and means that the total overall number of confirmed cases is now 210,008."

NS: "138 of the new cases yesterday were in Greater Glasgow & Clyde, 76 in Lanarkshire, and 70 in Lothian. The remaining cases were across 9 other health board areas."

NS: "447 patients are currently in hospital, which is 14 fewer than yesterday, and 40 people are in intensive care - that's the same number as yesterday."

NS: "I can also report that no deaths were reported yesterday of patients who tested positive over the previous 28 days. Of course, as you know by now, we often report a relatively low number of deaths on a Monday because registration offices tend to be closed over the weekend."

NS: "Since last Friday's update, a total of 10 deaths have been registered - and that takes the total number of deaths registered, under the definition we use in these daily figures, to 7,510."

NS: "Once again today, I want to convey my condolences to everyone who has suffered a bereavement because of Covid."

NS: "I'm joined today by the Chief Medical Officer, who will shortly help me answer questions. Before that, there are two issues I want to cover. The first relates to vaccination."

NS: "We are of course, as I'm sure you are too, aware that some countries, most recently the Netherlands and Republic of Ireland, have paused their use of the AstraZeneca vaccine."

NS: "You might be hearing reports of this in the media and you might have concerns as a result. So I want to take the opportunity today to address this directly."

NS: "In the UK, the decision to suspend the use of any vaccine is a matter of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency."

NS: "The MHRA has confirmed to us that there is no current evidence of an increase in blood clots being caused by the AstraZeneca vaccine. That is the issue that has paused the vaccine in some other countries."

NS: "As you would expect, though, the MHRA is continuing to monitor this carefully, and remains in regular contact with other regulators."

NS: "There is, however, significant and growing evidence of the benefits of vaccination in reducing death, illness and we hope, transmission - and the vaccination programme continues to make very good progress."

NS: "For all these reasons, we continue to urge people to come forward for vaccination, including with the AstraZeneca vaccine, when invited to do so."

NS: "Indeed, I can confirm that, as of 8.30 this morning, 1,908,991 people in Scotland have received the first dose of the vaccine.

That is an increase of 20,294 since yesterday."

NS: "In addition, 1,907 people received their second dose yesterday, which brings the total number of second doses to 161,945."

NS: "Virtually all over 65 year olds have had their first dose of the vaccine.

So too have 53% of 60-64 year olds, 41% of 55 to 59 year olds, and 33% of 50 to 54 year olds."

NS: "As the Health Secretary indicated on Friday, we expect the pace of vaccination to pick up significantly again this week in line with increased supplies."

NS: "We expect that, taking first and second doses together, there will be around 400,000 vaccinations done over the course of this week.

That represents a significant increase on the level of vaccination we've seen in the past couple of weeks."

NS: "Supplies permitting, that increase is likely to be continue into April."

NS: "Which means that by the middle of April, we still expect to have offered a first dose of the vaccine to everybody over the age of 50, all unpaid carers, and all adults who have particular underlying health conditions."

NS: "That target, when we meet it, will be a really significant milestone."

NS: "That rapid progress with vaccination provides all of us with firmer grounds for hope about the weeks and months ahead.

We are already seeing the impact of vaccination in reducing deaths."

NS: "The major Public Health Scotland study published last week – in partnership with the University of Glasgow - also shows that vaccination can significantly reduce transmission of the virus"

NS: "That gives us greater confidence that, as more and more people receive first doses, we will have some scope to relax restrictions - albeit we will still need to do that carefully."

NS: "And that gives us greater confidence that – as more and more people receive first doses – we will have some scope to relax restrictions, albeit we will still need to do that carefully."

NS: "That confidence is reinforced by the fact that over the past three weeks - as a result of the restrictions we are all living under - we have been successful in suppressing the virus further."

NS: "That said, it is important to note that over the last week, we have seen a slight increase in cases - we will be monitoring that carefully and it does provide us with a reminder that there is still no room for complacency, and that our room for manoeuvre is limited."

NS: "Our priority is of course ensuring that young people can return to school safely.

Today sees a further milestone in that, as children in primaries 4 to 7 return to school full time, which means all primary school children are now back in school."

NS: "In addition, the phased return to school for secondary school pupils continues today.

Our expectation is that all secondary school children will spend at least a short time in school each week in the short period between now and the Easter holidays."

NS: "This is intended to help prepare and reacclimatise young people ahead of the full return to school, which we hope will take place after the Easter holidays.

We have taken a number of steps to ensure that the return to school is a safe one."

NS: "For example, we've maintained a requirement for 2 metre distancing in secondary schools before Easter.

We have provided guidance on issues such as ventilation in school buildings."

NS: "And we are making twice-weekly tests available to all school and childcare staff, and to all older secondary school children."

NS: "We recently confirmed that we would work with others in the education sector to extend that testing offer, after the Easter Break, to secondary school children in years 1 to 3 as well."

NS: "It'll be available after Easter to all secondary school pupils."

NS: "The next few days I hope will be exciting ones for many children – as they see their classmates and their teachers in person again for the first time in months. And I know they will always be a relief to many parents."

NS: "But I wanted to take the opportunity to say how grateful I am to all parents and all school staff for the support they have provided over the past few months."

NS: "I'm well aware, though, that remote learning, together with some in-person learning, will continue for all secondary school pupils before Easter."

NS: "But I hope that today's further phased return shows that life is slowly but nevertheless surely beginning to return to some degree of normality."

NS: "In addition to the phased return to school, we have also started a very cautious easing of the wider lockdown restrictions.

On Friday, the rules on outdoor meetings changed - meaning that up to 4 people from two households can now meet outdoors."

NS: "I know and am very well aware that travel restrictions means that not everyone can use this relaxation to see family - but it was good to see some people able to use it over the weekend to meet up for Mothers’ Day."

NS: "For 12 to 17 year olds, the rules allow 4 people from up to 4 households to meet outdoors, allowing teenagers to see more of their friends."

NS: "Outdoor non-contact sports, and organised outdoor exercise, are also now permitted for adults and children aged 12 or over - in groups of up to 15 people."

NS: "And for children aged 11 or under, outdoor contact sports are already allowed.

Tomorrow, I will make a statement to Parliament around about 2:15pm, where I'll provide further information about when we expect other restrictions to be lifted."

NS: "Our room for manoeuvre is quite limited, and it's important that I am clear with you about that."

NS: "However, taking account of that, I will seek to set out some details of what changes we hope to be able to make in early April - hopefully around 5th April - and what further easing we might expect to see in late April, then mid May, and in much less detail, beyond that."

NS: "We can't provide certainty on everything, particularly the further into the future we look, but we will try to provide as much clarity now as is possible."

NS: "So tomorrow’s statement will help people to understand when they can expect to see some of the key early milestones in the route back to normality."

NS: "This will include the proposed date for the end of the “stay at home rule”, the reopening of shopping, outdoor and indoor hospitality, and further relaxations to the rules about meeting up with other households."

NS: "Tomorrow’s statement will, I hope, underline the fact that, as schools return - and as the most severe of the current restrictions ease - things will start to get a fair bit better in the weeks and months ahead."

NS: "That relaxation of restrictions is something that all of us desperately want to see.

But, and this is the point of caution I want to continue to stress to you - we can't afford to simply throw caution to the wind."

NS: "I know everybody understands that - but it is important that I do continue to stress it.

The virus is still out there - we see that in the last week with a slight increase in cases - and the virus is more infectious than when we came out of the lockdown last year."

NS: "So taking care, being cautious, being sensible really matters if we are to avoid letting the virus run ahead of the vaccine. If that happens, the danger is we have to take some steps backward instead of continuing to move forwards."

NS: "You'll see that hope that we have for the future reflected in that statement, but also tempered a bit with continued caution, which is the necessary mix that we need to bring to bear right now..."

NS: "..to ensure that our momentum out of lockdown might not be as fast as we all wish it could be, but it will be steady and firmly moving in a forward direction."

NS: "But for now, the message continues to be to stay at home, except for essential purposes.

We're continuing to ask people not to meet up with other households indoors."

NS: "If you do meet outdoors, make sure you're complying with the rules of four people from two households.

And on any occasion when you are out of the house, remember the FACTS advice."

NS: "Wear a face covering, avoid places that are crowded, clean hands and surfaces regularly. Perhaps this is a time to do that as we start going out and about a bit more."

NS: "Use two-metre distancing, and of course, it's still important to remember to self-isolate and get tested if you have any of the symptoms of Covid."

NS: "For now, stay at home as much as possible, so that we continue that downward pressure on the virus as our vaccination programme picks up pace again this week and gets to as many people as possible as quickly as possible."

NS: "So thank you, again, for everything you're doing - I know it gets more frustrating, and we all get more impatient every day that passes, but we are going, we hope, in the right direction."

NS: "And if we stick with it, then by the summer, I'm very hopeful that we will have a greater, much greater perhaps, degree of normality in our everyday lives."