Image source, NHS Scotland

Is it possible to stop the people of Scotland seeing the UK message, asks Simon Johnson of The Telegraph.

The first minister says that of course it won't be possible to block it out entirely.

However, she asks that the people of Scotland abide by the message that the Scottish government is giving out.

Craig Paton, from PA, asks whether a change in direction from the UK government without any consultation with the devolved administrations makes it more difficult to have a four nations approach harder or even impossible to achieve.

Nicola Sturgeon replies that: "I am committed to a four nations approach, cooperating and collaborating where we can and aligning our messages. The fact that we, for reasons based on good evidence, take different decisions on a different timescale should not be seen as a breakdown of that four nations approach.

"What makes it more difficult is if decisions are being taken and, even inadvertently, being presented as UK-wide decisions when they are not without proper consultation. And that is what I think is difficult and what I hope we will not see in the future, where we can get back to a position where we are sharing our thinking."

Asked what Prime Minister Boris Johnson had replied when told Scotland would not adopt the UK government's new "Stay Alert" message, Ms Sturgeon says: "There are discussions between the communications teams in the Scottish government and UK government taking place over the last little while and I am confident we will get that agreement."

Image source, PA Media

Phil McDonald from Global highlights Ms Sturgeon's tweet about only finding out about the UK government's change of message via the newspapers.

“I think the prime minister is well aware of my view that reading of each other’s plans in the newspaper for the first time is not a helpful or sensible way to proceed,” she says.

“It is really important the we share our thinking and share the decisions that we are making."

Nicola Sturgeon insists she remains committed to "the closest possible co-operation, collaboration and alignment" on a four-nations approach to easing lockdown measures..

She has “no interest whatsoever in politics when it comes to tackling this virus,” she reiterates, saying it is "perfectly consistent" with that approach to have a "pragmatic acceptance that we may move at different speeds if the evidence tells us that is necessary".

The first minister insists clarity of messaging is now of "paramount" importance, and says "we should not be reading of each other’s plans for the first time in newspapers".

"Decisions that are being taken for one nation only – for good, evidence-based reasons – should not be presented as if they apply UK wide," she adds.

In an attempt not to confuse messaging, she says she has asked the UK government not to deploy their ‘stay alert’ advertising campaign in Scotland.

"Because the message in Scotland at the moment is not 'stay at home if you can', the message is - except for essential reasons – 'stay at home full stop'."

Image source, Reuters

Sky's James Matthews asks if Boris Johnson is courting catastrophe by dropping the stay at home message.

Ms Sturgeon tells him she is taking decisions based on the fact that it was not yet safe for Scotland to drop that message.

“It is entirely possible that for our own populations we are both taking perfectly defensible and justifiable decisions,” she says.

She says that for Scotland right now it would be catastrophic to drop the stay at home message.

“I am particularly not prepared to do it in favour of a message that is vague and imprecise," she adds.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, AFP

Nicola Sturgeon welcomes the expected announcement by Prime Minister Boris Johnson tonight that the UK government will introduce a period of quarantine for people travelling to the country.

She sees this as "vital in our effort to contain the virus" and encourages the UK government "to introduce that as soon as possible".

Nicola Sturgeon says the government has already been consulting with business to produce guidance specific to the needs of industry, workers and public health in the sector.

That guidance will be published, sector by sector, in the coming days and weeks, with priority in the early stages given to the construction, manufacturing and retail sectors.

Image source, Getty Images

Glenn Campbell of the BBC asks if the first minister thinks people will die unnecessarily because the stay at home slogan is being dropped by the UK government.

“What I am saying is that I think there is a risk of people dying unnecessarily in Scotland if we were to drop the stay at home message,” she says.

Ms Sturgeon adds Scotland remains in a "fragile state".

“The prime minister will look at the evidence in England and reach his own conclusions," she says.

She says there is always a risk of mixed messages and it must be made clear where messages apply.

The first minister reiterates that she has not yet seen the detail of the plan being announced this evening for England by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

"It is therefore not possible for us to simply adopt it for Scotland," she says. "And, indeed, the evidence may well tell us that moving at exactly the same pace is not appropriate."

However, she says the Scottish government will look at it carefully and "take our own expert advice on it" and will "as soon as possible" set out its own view on the phasing of a "more substantial easing of the lockdown".

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Nicola Sturgeon says she will be looking at how more businesses can open, changes to public transport and when and how children can return to school.

However, she says: "I do not expect that schools in Scotland will start as early as 1 June."

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Ryan Maher of STV asks if two different messages from UK and Scottish governments might cause confusion.

The first minister says her message has not changed.

"The default basic stay at home message remains," she says.

Ms Sturgeon adds that she respects the right of other leaders to take different decisions if the evidence shows that is appropriate in their country.

She says she has asked the UK government not to run its new advertising in Scotland as it could risk undermining the Scottish government's message.

Nicola Sturgeon says the Scottish government "will continue to monitor the evidence and make further changes as soon as we consider it safe to do so".

This week, if the downward trend of the virus continues, it will assess further whether it will be possible to extend the number of outdoor activities permitted by the public.

The reopening of garden centres and the resumption of additional forms of outdoor work, where people work on their own or at distance, will be considered.

Discussions are also being held with councils about reopening waste and recycling centres.

Image source, AFP

Image source, Getty Images

The first minister says the extension to outdoor exercise is a "small but very important part" of the lockdown restrictions.

Ms Sturgeon says she believes it will bring benefits to health and wellbeing, particularly for people who live in flats and don’t have access to private gardens, as well as to children who may be finding the 'once a day' limit difficult.

Crucially, it will "bring those benefits without – in our judgement - having a major impact on the spread of the virus," she adds.

The first minister stresses the rest of the lockdown restrictions remain - for now - the same.

Image source, Getty Images

Nicola Sturgeon says people will now be permitted to exercise outdoors more than once a day, but must still stay relatively close to home, and maintain a 2m distance from people from other households.

The first minister stresses this change does not extend to outdoor activities such as sunbathing, picnics or BBQs, and is “not a licence to start meeting up in groups, at the park or the beach”.

“That really does risk spreading this virus and could potentially force us to re-introduce stricter guidelines, or toughen up the regulations and penalties in future,” she adds.

Nicola Sturgeon says that, if the lockdown was to be eased too soon, "people will die unnecessarily".

She says that, instead of being able to loosen restrictions in future, Scotland would be forced to tighten them.

So her message remains: "Please stay at home except for essential purposes."

Image source, Getty Images

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says her message is that "the lockdown in Scotland remains in place" because the rate of transmission in Scotland, the R number, is still too high for any significant change to be safe at this stage.

She points out that Scotland's R number remains higher than other parts of the UK, which means "we must be very cautious".

"Having made real progress in recent weeks, the object must be consolidate and solidify that progress," she adds. "We mustn't squander our progress by easing up too soon or sending out mixed messages."

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Nicola Sturgeon begins her briefing by saying that the latest figures released by the Scottish government (see 14:05 entry) should be treated with caution.

The first minister says registration numbers over weekends are usually lower than during the week, so that must be taken into account.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will update us shortly on the latest developments around coronavirus in Scotland.

You can watch and read what she has to say right here, or follow it on the BBC Scotland channel.

Ms Sturgeon will be joined by Health Secretary Jeane Freeman and Interim Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith.

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Researchers at the University of Stirling are to look at how pubs, clubs and restaurants could safely reopen. They are studying the viability of easing the coronavirus lockdown measures for licensed premises.

The project is being funded by the Scottish government and will look at a wide range of implications, including consumption, intoxication and violence.

Prof Niamh Fitzgerald, the lead researcher, said one option might be to "ease restrictions partially".

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A total of 6,224 staff, around 3.8% of the NHS workforce in Scotland, are reporting as absent because of a range of reasons related to Covid-19.

In care homes, 3,672 staff were reported as absent based on returns received from 822 (76%) homes as at 5 May. That represents 8.5% of all staff (43,403) for whom a return was provided.

The absence figures for NHS staff and care home staff are calculated in different ways.