NICOLA Sturgeon has warned that big-scale events and festivals might not be able to return to Scotland this summer.

Yesterday bosses at Glastonbury revealed that Covid had forced them to cancel the event for the second year running.

TRNSMT, Scotland's biggest music festival, have said they're still optimistic this year's event, headlined by Lewis Capaldi, Liam Gallagher and the Courteeners, could still go ahead in July. 

DF Concert boss Geoff Ellis said: "We will continue to listen to and follow the advice from the government and remain positive about events later in the summer."

Speaking at the Scottish Government's coronavirus briefing, the First Minister said there were grounds for "cautious optimism" that the lockdown measures are working.

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The latest figures show 2053 people are in hospital with Covid. 71 people who had tested positive had been registered in the past 24 hours.

There were 1478 new cases and a test positivity rate of 6.9% - the lowest level for some time.

Despite that optimism, the First Minister said it was likely we'd living with some form physical distancing, face coverings and travel restrictions for some time to come.

Asked if she thought music festivals and other large public events will be able to take place this summer, Sturgeon said: "None of us right now can look ahead and say with certainty what the position will be in the summer."

She added: "We know that summer weather conditions, even in Scotland, make life a bit harder for viruses, so that's another positive.

"But equally, we are still very much in the grip of a global pandemic, and none of these things, in and of themselves, are going to necessarily by the summer of this year create a completely back to normal environment in any walk of life.

"So I think organisations have to be aware of that."

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Sturgeon continued: "I hope, just as everybody else hopes, that by then we will have restored a lot of normality to life, but we equally have to be realistic and pragmatic. 

"I think it's going to be a little while longer, and I'm saying that gently, before big-scale events become possible again. 

"Now I hope that's as quickly as possible. But is it going to be by the summer? I could not say that with any certainty."