Scottish sports stadiums, gyms and swimming pools are not likely to reopen until the middle of September, assuming infection levels are low enough by then, Nicola Sturgeon has announced. In a statement updating MSPs on her plans to ease lockdown, the first minister said outdoor concerts and funfairs were likely to reopen in a little over three weeks time, on 24 August. Sturgeon confirmed Scotland’s schools would open full-time from 11 August, with all schools expected to resume by 18 August, without any widespread enforcement of physical distancing among children. Ministers were also releasing another £30m to hire extra teachers, she said. Although it will not be enforced, physical distancing among pupils will be sought in secondary schools that are large enough. However, all staff in schools should maintain physical distancing, along with risk mitigation measures such as increased ventilation and good hygiene. Patrick Harvie, the Scottish Green co-leader, has pressed Sturgeon to explain why the Scottish government was not introducing mandatory and regular testing of all teaching staff. He said footballers were tested up to four times a week in some cases. Sturgeon said there would be enhanced surveillance and fast access to testing for staff and pupils who showed Covid-19 symptoms. The real risk to schools came from outbreaks in the community, she added. “The current low prevalence of the virus – together with the safety measures we are putting in place – give us as good a basis as we could have hoped for to get children back to school,” she told Holyrood. Sturgeon said the latest daily data involving patients confirmed to have Covid-19 showed there had been no deaths in Scottish hospitals for two weeks. There were 17 new cases reported on Wednesday but only two patients were in intensive care. National Records of Scotland, a government agency, said on Wednesday that eight people had died last week with suspected Covid-19 in non-hospital settings. Sturgeon said expert assessments suggested about 300 people in Scotland had the virus last week, compared with 1,000 in early July. With Scotland’s Covid-19 prevalence rate at a very low level, Sturgeon announced shielding rules requiring vulnerable people with underlying health conditions to stay at home would be lifted on 1 August. Even so, she was not prepared to move from phase three of the Scottish government’s lockdown plan to phase four, which would allow gyms and sports venues to reopen, for at least three more weeks.