Image source, PA Media

Lockdown measures have left a Scottish charity with an unused stockpile of 30,000 chocolate eggs.

The National Trust for Scotland had to cancel Easter egg hunts at its properties. Now the clock is ticking, as the eggs have a use-by-date of July.

About half of the chocolate has already gone to hospitals, food banks and community groups. The trust is looking for ideas about who else could use the boxed eggs.

NTS customer director Mark Bishop said: "Thirty thousand Easter eggs don't eat themselves and our operations teams have been finding places for them to go."

Angie Brown
BBC Scotland news reporter

Image source, Corporal Alan Fergusson

A Scottish soldier has told how he has drawn from his experience of being in war zones in Afghanistan to get through the coronavirus lockdown.

Corporal Alan Fergusson said it was not alien for him to live in a small space without being allowed to leave and said he was used to being in "unpleasant situations".

The 38-year-old from 2 SCOTS said people should not be scared of coronavirus but instead respect it.

He said: "This lockdown will not last forever so people need to pick something they plan to do at the end and focus on that to get them through.

"I'm focusing on our next deployment to Afghanistan in October as mine."

Read more here.

Image source, SNS

British retail sales fell by a record 18.1% in April as many stores were closed amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The drop in April worsened from a fall of 5.2% in March, when the government first introduced lockdown measures.

Clothing sales plummeted by 50.2% as many High Street shops were shut, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS)., external

Online shopping as a proportion of all retail reached a record high of 30.7%, the ONS said.

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Britain's largest care home operator HC-One has announced it will pay full sick pay to care workers who have to self-isolate following exposure to Covid-19.

Previously staff employed by the private care provider could only access statutory sick pay of £95.85 per week if unable to attend work while waiting to be tested.

GMB Scotland said there was evidence that care home workers were worried about taking a test because they could not afford to be off work.

The union's Scotland secretary, Gary Smith, said: “We told employers and government a testing regime is undermined if it does not go hand in hand with full sick pay, and without it tens of thousands of low paid workers, and mainly women, face poverty in sickness.

“HC One has now recognised this scandal and their decision is the right thing to do."

Image source, Getty Images

Anyone arriving in the UK from abroad could be fined £1,000 if they fail to self-isolate for 14 days, the government is expected to announce.

Under the plans, health officials would be able to carry out spot checks to ascertain whether people were complying.

The new rules, which will also apply to British people returning from abroad, are not expected to come into force until next month.

Home Secretary Priti Patel will give more details at today's UK government daily briefing.

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Nicola Sturgeon's plans to ease lockdown next week dominate Scotland's front pages.

Many of them focus on the fact that after two months, families will finally allowed to see loved ones again - although they won't be able to give them a hug.

Read more here.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Asked if Health Secretary Jeane Freeman had lost the confidence of the public, and if she has failed the residents and staff of care homes, John Swinney said any suggestion she did not have the backing of the public was "symptomatic of the way the Scottish Conservatives were behaving".

He insisted Ms Freeman had put in place deliveries of PPE to every care home in the country, including private care homes, and made it clear any care home staff could be tested whenever required.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

John Swinney explains that the expected "blended education" model, for when schools reopen, will mean mixing home and school learning.

He says many teachers have adapted quickly to online teaching and parents' efforts should be applauded.

But he says "we are not going to return to a pre-Covid normal" when it comes to business and education.

And he acknowledges this will be difficult to juggle for parents.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Mr Swinney says he did not want to give Scots "false expectations" by putting dates on specific easing measures of the lockdown.

While England has set a date of 4 July for certain businesses to return, he says that Scotland will not follow suit, but will react to the progress made in Scotland as and when it is appropriate.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, Getty Images

John Swinney says the Scottish government had to give people an expectation of how to act.

He says the Conservatives pressured the Scottish government to present its route map and then criticised them after setting out that route map.

He says that is "illustrative of how the Scottish Conservatives are behaving in this outbreak".

He says ministers are focused on giving clear advice.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

The Scottish Secretary of State says the first minister's decisions are right for Scotland.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, gett

Alister Jack claims the UK government's U-turn on charging migrant NHS workers to use the health service was a sign of strength from the prime minister.

Boris Johnson yesterday made the decision to scrap the fees that overseas NHS staff and care workers must pay to use the NHS.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Secretary of State for Scotland Alister Jack says he has hopes the summer season is not yet written off.

He says he hopes the quarantine period for people coming into the country is not in use "for any longer than is necessary".

He also hopes that the Scottish tourism industry will be back in action this summer.

And he says Scotland is 15-18 days behind the rest of the UK in terms of easing lockdown but believes it can catch up very quickly.

He adds that "if you extract the numbers from the care homes, the R number in Scotland is something we can all take some credit for".

Image source, Getty Images

Up to 250 health and care workers are to be recruited in Scotland to take part in a Covid-19 vaccine trial.

The Oxford University trial will assess workers aged between 18 and 55 who are healthy and have not been infected with coronavirus.

They will receive either the vaccine or a licensed meningitis vaccine that will be used as a ‘control’ for comparison.

The study will begin in the next two weeks.

One of the UK government's scientific advisers has said he would have liked ministers to have acted "a week or two weeks earlier" in the virus pandemic.

Sir Ian Boyd, who sits on the Sage scientific advisory group, said "it would have made quite a big difference" to the death rate.

Ministers have always insisted they have been guided by the scientific advice during the pandemic.

UK government figures show , external36,042 people with the virus have died.

Sir Ian is a professor of biology at St Andrews University and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), which advises ministers on Covid-19.

Read more here.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, Getty Images

Larry Flanagan from Scotland's largest teaching union, the EIS, tells the BBC that schools will only reopen from August if public health authorities say they should.

He says the proposed changes are "the biggest challenge we have had in the last three decades".

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, Getty Images

Easing of the lockdown may not provide much relief for Scotland's most vulnerable. They have been told they should continue to stay indoors until at least 18 June.

Age Scotland is concerned older people, while being protected, are at risk of being treated as one group.

They say it is important to remember that people over the age of 60 can still be very fit and active.

As Scotland enters the first phase to ease lockdown restrictions, childminders will be able to resume activities from next Thursday.

But can grandparents take on the role of childminders?

Deputy First Minister John Swinney was asked that question on The Nine. This was his reply.