Struggling hospitality businesses will be relieved to hear the confirmation from Finance Secretary Kate Forbes (pictured) that the plan for Scotland is still to move to level zero by July 19th, with remaining legal restrictions lifted on August 9th – but people in Scotland will still have to self-isolate if a close contact tests positive for Covid despite UK health secretary Sajid Javid’s announcement that fully vaccinated adults and all children in England won’t have to from 16 August.
Scottish Hospitality Group spokesperson Stephen Montgomery has long been calling for the Scottish government to overhaul the test and trace
system and he thinks it should now follow the UK government’s lead.
He said, “We need to mirror the approach taken by the UK Government for our colleagues in England for those who have had the double jab, and look at a better system for our younger team members who will be the last to be vaccinated.
“We do not have a cupboard full of staff we can magic up just to replace those who either test positive, or who are forced to isolate. Of course, safety has, and will always remain to be our priority, and we need to be mindful of the positive cases here in Scotland, however hospitalisation at the moment remains low, and we hope that this will continue, and the vaccine will indeed lead us back to a normal way of life”
Kate Forbes also said the data would be closely monitored, after it was revealed that Scotland has the highest Covid rates in Europe, according to the World Health Organization.
The wearing of face masks will remain in Scotland despite UK Prime minister Boris Johnson also confirmed that face masks will no longer be
legally required and distancing rules will be scrapped. when most of England’s Covid restrictions end on July 19th.
