PEOPLE in Scotland will be able to meet up in larger groups and engage in non-contact team sports again from Friday, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

The First Minister cautioned that we "cannot take the foot off the brake too quickly", but stressed that the Government hoped to lift restrictions as soon as possible.

She said that a few changes to lockdown would be announced today, made possible by the progress made in the fight to suppress Covid. 

Firstly, restrictions on outdoor social interactions will be slightly eased.

From Friday March 12, the law will be relaxed so that up to four adults from two households can meet outdoors, for both essential exercise and socialising. This will apply in both public spaces and private gardens. 

For people aged 12 to 17 these groups will also be limited to four, but there will be no two household limit. Sturgeon said this would allow young people a degree of normality with their friends.

Furthermore, from Friday, outdoor non-contact sports and organised group exercise will be allowed with up to 15 people in a group.

The First Minister said there would be flexibility allowed on travel restrictions so that young people will not be prevented from joining teams which may be based slightly outside their local authority area.

Sturgeon said these were "minor changes but important, made possible by the hard sacrifices of the majority of people" in Scotland.

Indoor meetings will still be banned, with people asked to avoid even the use of toilets in friends' houses should they be meeting in a private garden.

Secondly, from Friday March 26 communal worship and religious services will be allowed to return. The capacity will be increased to 50 people, as long as social distancing measures are in place.

The First Minister said this date meant that worship would be in place in Scotland in time for the religious festivals of Passover, Easter, Ramadan, and Vaisakhi.

Before lockdown, spaces of worship could only accept 20 people inside at any one time.

The First Minister also used her statement in Parliament to condemn the fans of Ranger FC involved in "unacceptable scenes" at the weekend.

READ MORE: Rangers ignored police pleas to call off fans before 'disgraceful' scenes, says top cop

Thousands of people gathered in crowds across parts of Scotland, especially in Glasgow, to celebrate their team's 55th Scottish Premiership victory.

Sturgeon said that, given the fragility of the coronavirus crisis, the events of the weekend could not be ignored. 

She accepted that the behaviour of the fans would cause anger in those following the rules, but urged people not to let the recklessness of a minority endanger the progress made in suppressing the virus.

The First Minister also confirmed that 19 people have died in Scotland after contracting Covid-19.

A further 466 cases have also been reported in the past 24 hours, with a positivity rate of 3.3%.

The deaths, recorded among people who tested positive in the previous 28 days, bring the total under that measurement to 7441.

Some 614 people were in hospital yesterday with recently confirmed coronavirus.

Of those, 50 were in intensive care.

A total of 1,789,377 people have received the first dose of a Covid vaccination and 123,686 have received their second dose.

Sturgeon said that the vaccination programme had slowed in recent weeks due to supply issues.

However, she said these issues were expected to ease in the near future, allowing the vaccination rollout to accelerate significantly.