Masks ‘will still have to be worn in Scotland’

The Scottish Government says there will still be a requirement to wear face coverings north of the border even if England, as expected, moves later this month to ease the rules around masks.

The comments come after Sunday papers reported Boris Johnson, who is due to give an update this week on plans for unlocking in England, is set to scrap social distancing and mask-wearing requirements on socalled “Freedom Day”, which is July 19.

But the Scottish Government said masks will still be needed in some situations.

“As the first minister has set out, we will have to manage living with Covid-19 for some time to come, even when we are able to move beyond Level 0. There will still be some ongoing need for face coverings, for example on public transport and in retail.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said more guidance about the issue of face masks will be given by the end of the month.

Yesterday, UK Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick appeared to confirm the reports of an imminent easing of restrictions in England as he said the impact of the vaccine on preventing serious illness meant it was time to “roll back” the “difficult” restrictions that have been in place for the past 16 months.

Robert Jenrick told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “It does look as if, thanks to the success of the vaccine programme, we now have the scope to roll back those restrictions and return to normality as far as possible.”

Mr Jenrick said he hoped the UK could “move as one” when lifting pandemic restrictions but acknowledged the picture was different across the Union.