MANY people will be excited with the announcement of a route map to easing Covid-19 restrictions, following almost a year of the pandemic.

With our vaccination programme in full swing, we can finally see a way out of restrictions and a route back to a more normal lifestyle.

The approach taken by the Scottish Government is, at this stage, deliberately cautious. I believe this is the right approach because it would be much harder to over-promise and not deliver than it is to under-promise and accelerate the easing of restrictions if we can successfully suppress the virus. The virus is still very transmissible and case numbers remain high, so we need to remain careful and continue to limit our contact with others.

Our vaccination rollout has been a mammoth task but now one third of eligible Scots have received their first vaccination, which is a colossal achievement and all down to the hard work of our healthcare workers. We should all remain hopeful that this represents the first steps on the road back to normality.

Many across the country will be delighted that regular care home visiting is now going to resume so that care home residents can have two designated visitors each.

The Scottish Government have brought this into place now that almost all care home residents have received their vaccination and so will be better protected from Covid-19. This will undoubtedly make a huge difference to the wellbeing of residents and will provide much-needed reassurance to their families and loved ones. After a difficult year for care home residents, this relaxation is very much welcome.

I would like to encourage everyone to sign up to a postal vote ahead of the elections in May. This will be the safest way to vote given that we don’t have absolute certainty about how things will look in a few months.

The deadline for registering for a postal vote is 5pm on Tuesday, April 6, and you can get information on this by calling the Electoral Registration Officer on 0131 344 2500.