Covid rules Travel restrictions lifted on Friday
TRAVEL restrictions are being lifted across mainland Scotland from Friday, with tourists allowed to head to the islands within two weeks.
The plans were unveiled as Nicola Sturgeon said she was “extremely confident” the continued decline in virus cases would enable the routemap out of lockdown to proceed as scheduled.
However, there was an unexpected blow as it emerged that alcohol cannot be served indoors in restaurants, bars, and cafes until at least mid-may.
TRAVEL restrictions are being lifted across mainland Scotland from Friday, with tourists allowed to head to the islands on holiday within two weeks.
The plans were unveiled as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she was “extremely confident” that the continued decline in cases would enable the routemap out of lockdown to proceed as scheduled, with some elements accelerated.
However, there was an unexpected blow for hospitality as it emerged that alcohol cannot be served indoors in restaurants, bars, and cafes until at least mid-may, when the country is expected to move into level two restrictions.
Although serving alcohol indoors is banned under current level three restrictions drawn up for the original tiers framework in November, there had been hopes that the revised levels would be less strict.
Customers will be able to consume alcohol outdoors in groups of up to six from six households when hospitality premises reopen from April 26, but indoor gatherings – where the risk of Covid is higher – will be limited to six people from two households, no alcohol, and an 8pm closing time.
This will only change under Level Two, expected to take effect from May 17, when groups of up to six from three households can meet together for up to two hours indoors at cafes, bars and restaurants, and be served alcohol.
It comes as the First Minister announced that travel restrictions will be lifted from Friday, allowing people to travel to other local authority areas for “outdoor socialising, recreation, or informal exercise”.
From Friday, people will also be allowed to meet up with friends and family outdoors in larger groups of up to six adults from six households, including unlimited numbers of children under 12.
Visiting one another’s homes remains banned until level two comes in, when up to four people from two households will be allowed to meet up in a private dwelling, while travel between council areas for purposes such as shopping, visiting bars and restaurants, or staying in holiday accommodation is not permitted
until April 26. Ms Sturgeon also announced the island communities currently living under level three restrictions, including Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles, will remain there from April 26 despite low Covid case rates in order to enable tourism to resume without restrictions on travel to and from the mainland.
Orkney has had no new cases since March 20, while Shetland has had 11 and the Western Isles three over the same period.
However, the Scottish Government said moving the islands into level two would have required imposing strict curbs on travel to avoid new cases being imported and spread by visitors.
Ms Sturgeon said there was “no universal opinion”, but said the
Scottish Government has opted “on the balance of opinion” to align the islands with the mainland.
She added: “To those who would have preferred to see the islands move to level two at the end of April, let me reassure you that we do expect at least a move to level two to happen three weeks later on May 17... In the meantime, as a result of staying in level three for a bit longer, it will be possible for islanders and visitors to travel to and from the islands and I know that will make a difference to individuals and businesses on the islands.”
Restrictions on travel between Scotland and England and Wales are also expected to lift from April 26, and Scotland remains on track to reach level zero by the end of June, said Ms Sturgeon.
She added that as increasing numbers of young people are vaccinated over summer she hopes that “a level of normality well beyond zero will become possible”, including nightclubs and bigger group gatherings indoors in people’s homes.
Currently, level zero would cap eight people from four households from meeting in someone’s home.
Meanwhile, Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith confirmed that 25 cases of the South African Covid variant and six of the Brazilian variant – both believed to be partially resistant to vaccines – have been detected in Scotland to date, but there is “no evidence of community transmission”.
It comes amid an outbreak of the South African variant in London.