Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, Getty Images

Humza Yousaf said he understands the concerns victims feel about the early release of prisoners and tells the BBC it was the "most difficult decision" he has had to make as a minister.

But the justice secretary said he was not in office just to take popular decisions.

"Sometimes I have to make unpopular decisions because it is the right thing to do for the safety of all of those in our care," he said.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf says the early release of a limited number of prisoners because of the coronavirus pandemic is one of three measures aimed at easing pressures in prisons.

He told Good Morning Scotland that "ramping up" home detention curfews and the slow down in the courts would also mean fewer people being sent to prison.

Up to 450 prisoners could be released from 30 April, but Mr Yousaf said this would be done in a "phased manner" over a period of about four weeks.

"We hope these three measures effectively mean that we can increase the amount of single cell occupancy which will help us contain and fight the virus," he said.

"[It will] make it a safer place for the staff that work there, but also hopefully ease up some of the regime which has been tightened since the pandemic started which, as you can imagine, has caused some increased tensions in our prisons."

He said for those prisoners being released early it would be considered the end of their sentence.

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Aberdeen's council leaders have written to the prime minister and first minister asking for support for the oil and gas industry.

This week has seen dramatic falls in crude prices on both sides of the Atlantic, with the North Sea Brent benchmark falling to an 18-year low.

Council co-leader Jenny Laing said they want support to help turn the city into an energy transition hub.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, Getty Images

Fiona Hyslop tells Good Morning Scotland that every country around the world was facing the same challenges and there needed to be a "global economic response".

Asked how long the Scottish government could contine to fund the support measures, Ms Hyslop said some sectors would need financial support for a longer period.

She said some businesses would be able to make a safe return to work more quickly, but others like the hopitality, leisure and creative industries, would see a bigger impact over a longer period.

Ms Hyslop added that there was a "serious case" for nationalisation measures like loan support and equity stakes - but said she could not say specifically which industries or companies would need this sort of support.

Fiona Hyslop says her intention is that as many businesses as possible will survive the coronavirus crisis and that is why she has announced more than £2.2bn of support in a package of measures for employers and employees.

She said new schemes would help the newly self-employed with other measures targeted at the hospitality and tourism industries.

But she told BBC Scotland there would need to be a "national endeavour" to get Scotland through the ecomonic crisis. But she stressed again it was a "balancing act" between the needs of the economy and public health.

Image source, Getty Images

The Economy Secretary, Fiona Hyslop, tells Good Morning Scotland she acknowledges the economic cost of lockdown, but warns against trying to get back to normal too quickly.

The chief economist at the Scottish government, Gary Gillespie, said yesterday that the current lockdown restrictions were cutting output from the economy by a third.

Ms Hyslop said: "Of course there are economic costs, but we also know if we restart too early and we have a a false restart, then there's a danger a second wave of this virus and then the economic impact could even be greater."

She said that the first minister would soon set out a framework for an exit strategy, and that it was important that everyone understood the social, health and economic costs.

Mr Leonard tells BBC Scotland that there should be clarity and transparency around the lockdown exit strategy because he would push for a cross-border approach.

He quotes Scotland's National Clinical Director Jason Leitch as saying there was a difference between Orkney and and Oxford Street, but Mr Leonard says that different lockdown rules in England and Scotland could cause problems for border communities.

On the exit strategy, Mr Leonard says: " needs to be co-ordinated, it needs to be staged and it needs to have the confidence of the people behind it."

The economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic and the first human trials of a vaccine make the front pages of Scotland's newspapers.

Read more here.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

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The leader of Scottish Labour says an exit strategy for corononavirus lockdown measures in Scotland needs to have cross-party support.

Richard Leonard told Good Morning Scotland that any strategy should be health driven, rather than driven by economic considerations.

Mr Leonard said: "Public safety has to be the highest priority."

He said there has been a "lack of clarity" from ministers about the reopening of schools and has requested access to Scottish government officials working on the exit strategy. But he told the programme this access has not yet been granted.

Angie Brown
Edinburgh and East reporter

A Scottish funeral director is urging people to follow the old tradition of standing, waiting and bowing when a hearse passes them in the street.

The lockdown restrictions have limited the number of people who are allowed to attend funerals.

Tim Purves, the chairman of William Purves Funeral Directors, said families were not now getting same level of support as they would normally receive.

He said reviving the tradition would allow people to show their respects.

Read more here.

The chief executive of an organisation working with ex-offenders says that conditions in Scottish prisons are "tough" and "challenging" with visits stopped and lots of people living in close proximity.

Alan Staff told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland that inmates would be wondering how their families were coping with the pandemic and "tensions are going to be rising".

Hundreds of prisoners could be released early to ease problems caused by the coronavirus crisis.

But Mr Staff said that precautions should be taken before prisoners were released.

"If someone's going to be released early they need to be relased into some sort of secure environment. The last thing we want is to have poeple to be released literally onto the street or sofa surfing," he said.

Prison reform group the Howard League Scotland has backed Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf's announcement that hundreds of prisoners could be released early.

Policy adviser Emma Jardine told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme it was a necessary decision - and pointed out that many other countries were already releasing inmates due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But she said it was also important to put in place arrangements to support prisoners before they are freed.

Image source, Getty Images

Scotland has recorded its worst retail sales figures as the industry struggles to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

Total sales dropped by 13% in comparison with March 2019, when they decreased by 3.7%, according to the SRC-KPMG retail sales monitor.

It is the lowest figure recorded since the monitor began in January 1999.

Scotland's chief economist has warned that GDP faces an "unprecedented" drop of as much as 33% due to the impact of the virus.

Read more

Image source, PA Media

The University of Stirling has sent beds usually used to train student nurses to Scotland’s new temporary critical care hospital.

A total of seven beds have been loaned to the temporary Louisa Jordan facility located at the Scottish Events Campus in Glasgow.

Nearly 400 of the university’s student nurses – and nine clinically-trained staff – are also joining health boards to help deal with the Covid-19 pandemic from 27 April.

In addition, the university has also donated 3D printers to aid the production of personal protective equipment.

Welcome to our live page on how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting Scotland.

We'll be bringing you the latest developments throughout the day.

Here is a summary of the main points from yesterday.

• The Scottish government's chief economist says the pandemic has now become an economic crisis.
• Thirteeen residents at a care home in Edinburgh are thought to be among the latest victims of Covid-19 in Scotland.
• Nicola Sturgeon says she is "cautiously optimistic" that the country's NHS will be able to cope with the coronavirus outbreak.
• Tributes have been paid to a 41-year-old NHS worker who has died from coronavirus.
• The parents of a premature baby who has recovered from coronavirus have paid tribute to the medics who treated her at Wishaw General Hospital.