Cautious welcome for plans to lift remaining Covid-19 legal restrictions
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Plans to gradually lift the remaining Covid-19 legal restrictions in Scotland have been given a cautious welcome by business leaders and hoteliers in the north.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says a staged approach to easing protective measures will help the country manage and recover from the pandemic.
The vaccine certification scheme, covering nightclubs and large events, will end on Monday, February 28, although any businesses that wish to keep using the app on a voluntary basis to reassure customers will be able to do so.
From Monday, March 21, the legal requirement to wear face coverings in shops and hospitality venues and on public transport is likely to be downgraded to guidance.
David Richardson, Highlands and Islands development manager at the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), said: “FSB Scotland welcomes the announcement from the First Minister regarding the timetable for winding down remaining legal Covid restrictions, but this is far from the end of the story.
“Scotland lost 20,000 of its smallest businesses in a single year of the pandemic, and the hard work begins now to get local economies back on their feet.
"We want Scottish Government ministers to put the local firms and self-employed people that gave up so much over the past two years at the centre of their recovery plans, and we want local authorities and the Scottish Government to work together to ensure that cash aimed at recovery reaches the real economy.
“Finally, while the future is a closed book as far as new Covid variants are concerned, we’d like decision-makers to recognise the damage this crisis has already done to Scotland’s business community before re-imposing tough restrictions.”
Murray Lamont, who runs Mackays Hotel in Wick with his wife Ellie, said: "We view the news of the restrictions being lifted cautiously. While we are hopeful this will open up the hospitality trade, we want our staff and customers to feel safe when they visit us.
"We will take our own team’s views into account when deciding what to do ourselves."
Mervyn Hill, of Wick's Nethercliffe Hotel, said: "I think a lot of customers are looking forward to getting back to near normal, especially as most people have had their jabs which seem to be doing their job.
"It will make things a bit easier with the track and trace and mask-wearing going down to guidance instead of mandatory – hopefully things won't go backwards."
In a statement to parliament on Tuesday, Ms Sturgeon confirmed the details of the updated strategic framework to manage Covid-19 primarily through public health advice, vaccination and treatment rather than legal restrictions.
Access to lateral flow and PCR tests will continue to be free of charge, ahead of a "detailed transition plan" being published in March on the future of Scotland’s test and protect programme.
Anyone who tests positive for Covid will continue to be asked to self-isolate to reduce the risk of infecting other people.
The First Minister said: “Covid is unfortunately still with us, and we must therefore remain vigilant and prepared for the threats it poses, but the new framework is an important moment in our recovery. It marks the point at which we move away, hopefully sustainably, from legal restrictions, and rely instead on sensible behaviours, adaptations and mitigations."
The planned lifting of the legal requirement to wear face coverings will also apply to places of worship.
