The first minister has today confirmed the next steps in the easing of the Covid lockdown in Scotland.
This includes more details on retail, hospitality and on children returning to schools.
The phased approach will see a gradual easing of restrictions between April 2 and June.
April 2
- lifting the ‘Stay at Home’ requirement and replacing it with a ‘Stay Local’ message (retaining the current, local authority-based travel restrictions for at least a three-week period)
April 5
The government will continue to monitor closely this encouraging data. Assuming that all goes well, the next significant milestone for easing restrictions will be April 5, when the plan is to ease a wider range of current restrictions in Level 4 areas, including:
- the resumption of outdoor contact sport for 12-17-year-olds
- return of college students within the top three priority groups identified by Colleges Scotland as most likely not to complete this academic year (estimated as 29% of learners)
- reopening of non-essential ‘click and collect’ retail
- extending the list of retail permitted to include:
° garden centres (indoor and outdoor)
° key cutting shops ° mobility equipment shops
° baby equipment shops
° electrical repair shops
° hairdressers and barbers (with shopfronts – not mobile services), by appointment only
° homeware shops
° vehicle showrooms (appointment only) and forecourts
The prohibition of in-home socialising will continue to be kept under review at this date.
April 12/19, depending on term times
- all children back to school full-time
April 26
Subject to supply by mid-April, the government plans to have offered the vaccine to priority vaccine groups 1-9, based on the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation advice for protecting the most vulnerable in our population.
Assuming the data allows it, it is expected a more significant reopening of the economy and society will start on April 26. This will likely include the following easings (some of these activities/settings are already permitted/open in Level 3 island communities).
- extending outdoor socialising to permit up to six people from up to three households to gather
- allowing 12-17-year-olds to meet outdoors in groups of six from up to six households
- travel within all of mainland Scotland permitted (subject to other restrictions that remain in place)
- remaining shops can reopen and mobile close contact services can resume
- gyms can reopen for individual exercise
- tourist accommodation to reopen (self-catering accommodation to be restricted in line with rules on indoor gathering)
- work in people’s homes to resume
- driving lessons to resume
- weddings and funerals for up to 50 (including wakes and receptions with no alcohol permitted)
- libraries, museums, galleries re-open
- outdoor hospitality to open till 22:00 with alcohol permitted. Indoor hospitality permitted without alcohol and closing at 20:00
- social mixing in indoor public places will be subject to the current maximum of four people from up to two households. The prohibition of in-home socialising will continue to be kept under review at this date.
May 17
From 17 May the government hopes to introduce the following easings:
- re-introducing in-home socialising for up to 4 people from up to 2 households
- further re-opening of hospitality: bars, pubs, restaurants and cafes can stay open until 22:30 indoors with alcohol permitted and 2 hour time-limited slots and until 22:00 outdoors with alcohol permitted
- adult outdoor contact sport and indoor group exercises can resume
- cinemas, amusement arcades and bingo halls can re-open
- small scale indoor and outdoor events can resume subject to capacity constraints (to be confirmed following stakeholder engagement)
- colleges and universities can return to a more blended model of learning
- more in-person (face-to-face) support services can resume
- non-professional performance arts can resume outdoors
June
Due to the complicated nature of the virus, the government is unable to give precise dates from May onwards, however, it understands the need for people and businesses to plan and so, to give a broad sense of likely timings, from the start of June, it is aiming for Scotland to move back to Level 1.