Sunday's opinion page pieces concentrated on the prospect of a delay to 'Freedom Day' - when the Covid lockdown will largely lifted. Here is The Herald’s pick of those editorials.

Mail on Sunday

Its leader called on Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon to think again about any push back on the escape from lockdown on 'Freedom Day'.

The paper raised concerns about leaks warning that the PM will say on Monday that England must remain restricted for another four weeks after June 21.

And it said that it is expected Nicola Sturgeon will follow suit and push back Scotland's June 28 Freedom Day.

"While there is yet time, we suggest that he and his colleagues look again at their thinking. They are clearly being tugged this way and that, as the futile confusion of our current travel rules shows. Former PM Theresa May has rightly said: 'The messaging is mixed and the system chaotic'," the commentary states.

"Much the same could be said about the damage faced by our hospitality and entertainment sector if the Government breaks what many people thought was a reasonable promise, to open up on June 21.

"Yes, Mr Johnson was careful to say this date was not hard and fast. But is this hesitation justified, or it just nerves? If we are ever to be free of these restrictions, there will one day have to be a bold decision. If not now, then when?"

The Sunday Times

Its leader was more cautious, saying it was hard to be critical of a prime minister who in the past was "cavalier" about the risks posed by rapidly rising infections.

The paper said: "Proceeding gung-ho with the June 21 unlocking after pledging to be driven by 'data, not dates' would have been strange, even foolhardy. Case numbers are rising — up more than 50 per cent in a week — as are hospital admissions and deaths, though more slowly."

But it added: "We need to accept that Covid will not be eliminated, as the prime minister has admitted.

"This means we cannot panic over the emergence of every new variety that appears on the scene.

"'If we scamper down a rabbit hole every time we see a new variant, we are going to spend a long time huddled away, so we do need to keep a bit of balance to the discussion,' said Sir John Bell, regius professor of medicine at Oxford and distinguished immunologist.

"The public, as noted above, are risk averse about Covid. They have been persuaded to be so because of the dangers that the virus exposed them to before vaccines were generally available. Now they have to be nudged towards a different risk assessment, one in which we learn to live with the virus and the dangers are limited for the overwhelming majority of fully vaccinated people. It is, in truth, the only realistic way forward."