Masks stay as most COVID rules ditched Business boss critical of‘speed bumps on road to recovery’
Perth and Kinross Council is encouraging residents across the region to completed their census questionnaire.
Sunday, March 20 marked Census Day 2022.
Every single person in the country must be accounted for in this once-in-a-decade survey.
Census letters have been issued to more than 2.7 million households nationwide, representing 5.5 million people.
More than one million households have already completed the survey.
A PKC spokesperson said: “Completing the census is important because the answers provide the Scottish Government, and many other service providers with the data they need to make important decisions that affect your community.
“These decisions include how money will be spent on important services like education, housing, healthcare, roads and railways, and so much more.”
Census surveys can be completed up until the end of April.
Go to census.gov.scot or call the free helpline on 0800 030 8308 for help and guidance on the questions.
A 34-year-old woman from Perth, alleged to have attacked another female in a city centre street and left her permanently disfigured, has claimed through her solicitor she was acting in self defence.
Solicitor John McLaughlin told Perth Sheriff Court last week Siobhan Warden wished to lodge the special defence when her case called in front of visiting sheriff George Way on Thursday.
Warden, of Tay Street, Perth, has denied assaulting Vicky Gemmell in Canal Street by striking her on the head with a glass, seizing her by the hair and pulling her to the ground to her injury and permanent disfigurement on February 5, 2020.
Sheriff Way accepted her plea and fiscal depute Gavin Letford indicated a trial date had been set for April 25.
However Mr McLaughlin said this date would not suit Warden as she was expecting to undergo a number of medical procedures in the interim.
Sheriff Way agreed to shift her first diet a week to give everyone involved in the case more time to agree on when to proceed to trial under the circumstances.
The majority of COVID restrictions were lifted in Perth and Kinross yesterday, nearly two years since some of them were first introduced.
Local residents will no longer have to give their details across to hospitality venues for contract tracing purposes while shops won’t need specific guidelines for customers.
However, despite some of the big changes face masks will remain in place across the country until at least early April due to reports of rising cases of the so-called ‘Stealth Omicron,’ the first minister announced on Tuesday.
The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data revealed that one in 14 people in Scotland had COVID last week.
Perthshire Chamber of Commerce chief executive Vicki Unite was critical of the face mask extension decision saying it is “the rug being pulled” from underneath the feet of the region’s businesses.
COVID measures in retail settings such as having separate entrances and exit, floor markings indicating physical distancing, dividing screens and hand sanitiser were removed yesterday.
While, places of worship have also lifted similar restrictions.
The use of QR codes and giving your details to bars, cafes and restaurants have also ended.
Restrictions on travelling to
Scotland were lifted on March 18, however yesterday marked the start of the first full week of no international rules.
Speaking on the extension of the face mask rules, Perthshire Chamber of Commerce chief executive Vicki Unite said: “Once again, the speed bumps have been placed on the road to recovery and to say it is disappointing is understating the depth of feeling in our businesses.
“They thought they finally had a definitive calendar date when full service could be resumed, but now less than a week before there was to be no legal requirement to adhere to the government’s measures, the rug has been pulled from underneath their feet - again.
“I think we all thought we had come to a clear understanding that we had to live with the virus, even in the face of rising figures, and that businesses would be able to focus on re-establishing stability and growth.
“Yet it is not the green shoots of recovery that we can now see; it is the unpalatable seeds of doubt and confusion, and a fear that uncertainty will continue to hinder businesses, as they desperately try to get things back on track.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We have just published an ambitious plan that sets out how we can transform Scotland’s economy – this includes a ruthless focus on working with business and industry to deliver the changes we want to see.
“We are all too aware of the impact the COVID pandemic has had – and continues to have – on retailers, high streets and on the economy. That is why, since the start of the pandemic, businesses have benefitted from more than £4.5 billion in support.
“We are taking action to help retailers and communities recover – not least through our £80 million Economic Recovery Fund and the forthcoming Retail Strategy.”
“We will also listen carefully to any constructive suggestions on what further steps we might take.”
I think we all thought we had come to a clear understanding that we had to live with the virus