AT LAST, LIFELINE TO SAVE SUMMER
Pubs and restaurants to reopen as FM revises 2m rule ++ Kids can play together outside ++ But masks mandatory ++
SCOTLAND’S pubs and restaurants have been handed a lifeline after Nicola Sturgeon finally agreed to cut social distancing to one metre.
The First Minister said yesterday she intends to allow the restriction to be reduced from the current two metres for outdoor and indoor hospitality in the next phase of exiting lockdown, likely to be the end of next week.
But customers will not be allowed to stand at the bar when pubs open inside and music will be banned to prevent people singing and spreading the virus.
Restaurants will be allowed to open if they have special measures in place, such as Perspex screens and increased ventilation.
It is a major relief for pubs and restaurants, after fears as many as two-thirds would stay shut unless the two-metre rule was reduced.
A one-metre distance will also be allowed in shops, although wearing face coverings will become mandatory and anyone refusing to do so could face an on-the-spot £60 fine.
Hospitality firms will need to put in place other ‘mitigations’ when the social distance rule is cut. These are expected to include taking contact details of all customers and putting up screens between tables. The distancing relaxation was one of several steps out of lockdown yesterday, as figures showed the estimated total with coronavirus in Scotland fell from 2,000 to 1,500 in a week.
Marc Crothall, chief executive of the Scottish Tourism Alliance, described the relaxation of the distancing rule as ‘the news that the industry has been eagerly anticipating’.
He said: ‘It will mean that many hundreds of businesses that had not planned to reopen may now reconsider and plan to do so.’
Miss Sturgeon said new figures showed the ‘continued low prevalence’ of the virus.
The reproduction rate of Covid-19 – the average number of people infected by someone who tests positive for the virus – remained at 0.6-0.8.
The number in hospital with confirmed or suspected symptoms was unchanged at 785, while the number in intensive care nearly halved in a day, from 17 on Wednesday to nine yesterday.
One more death was registered in the 24 hours to yesterday, taking the death toll for those who tested positive in hospital to 2,487.
Miss Sturgeon insisted the ‘general advice’ on distancing remains unchanged at two metres. But she admitted a two-metre rule has ‘serious economic implications’ for some industries and an adverse economic impact ‘can, in turn, have an effect on people’s health’.
She said that when Scotland enters phase three of exiting lockdown – which could happen after the next review next Thursday – exemptions allowing one-metre social distancing will be allowed in outdoor and indoor hospitality, public transport and retail, if mitigations are put in place.
Miss Sturgeon said: ‘In my view, this represents a balanced and proportionate approach to what is a genuinely difficult issue.’
Beer gardens and outdoor dining will be allowed to resume trade from Monday – but will need to have two-metre social distancing until it is reduced in phase three. Colin Wilkinson, managing director of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, said: ‘This news will further help the rebuilding of the industry and gives Scotland’s pubs and bars the lifeline they need for their survival.
‘Without this reduction it is estimated two-thirds of our pubs and bars would not have been able to open and operate viably, leading to a large number of business closures and mass job losses.’
Tracy Black, CBI Scotland’s director, said: ‘Easing social distancing rules will make a substantial difference to the viability of thousands of firms in Scotland.’ Dr Liz Cameron, chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said: ‘Being able to reduce distances from two metres to one will mean more businesses can now start planning to reopen.’
From July 10, face coverings such as masks and scarves will become compulsory in all shops. Anyone breaking the rules could face a £60 fine – rising to a maximum of £960 for repeat offenders.
David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: ‘More steps will be needed but there is much retailers can support in the First Minister’s announcement.’
Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw said: ‘This is a reasonable approach which will maintain public health while easing the restrictions that would have made it impossible for many hospitality and retail businesses to operate.’
But Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: ‘There is no real clarity, especially over when the one-metre distancing rule will apply and, without that, enforcement will be impossible.’
‘Gives pubs and bars the lifeline they need’